Central Medford High School students give 72 care kits to local homeless

MEDFORD, Ore. – Students from Mr. Torguson’s Central Medford High School leadership class have been gathering donations for care kits for the past month.

Wednesday they handed them out to people in need.

“I was happy to see everyone smiling and saying thank you,” said Central Medford High School student, Jazlyn.

The students set-up an Amazon Wishlist and asked the community for help.

They collected toothbrushes, socks, beanies – anything pertaining to personal care.

“We would get 4 and 5 packages a day. I’d be called up to the main office, ‘you got something else now,” said Michael Torguson, Central Medford High School leadership advisor.

The packages took two hours to assemble, however, a lot of sorting and inventory had to be done behind the scenes.

“Okay, we’ve gotta separate the shampoos from the conditioners and the soaps from this and that and okay we’re missing three
deodorants let’s go to the store and get three more deodorants,” added Torguson.

The recipients of the care kits are the homeless staying at the newly opened Kelly Shelter.

“I love to see the younger generation get involved with the homeless community because we need lots of support,” said the manager of Kelly Shelter, Margarita Moody.

The Kelly Shelter residents were grateful for the kits given to them just in time for the holidays.

“It’s nice that other people know, that other people care. A lot of us are just happy to have a roof over our heads,” said Sean Truijllo, a Kelly Shelter resident.

The class project is a humble reminder that giving back during the holidays can go a long way.

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