Quincy church opens ‘Essentials Cabinet’ to provide hygiene items to local community

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church of Quincy has recently opened an Essentials Cabinet to benefit the local community by providing hygiene items and toiletries for those who need them.

A blessing ceremony was held at the church on Sunday, November 13, after which the ministry began distributing the items.

A shelf stocked with hygiene products in the St. Paul’s Essentials Cabinet contains infant diapers and wipes, as well as feminine hygiene products. Other shelves carry shaving supplies, shampoo, laundry detergent, and more.

“We’re really excited about this,” said Reverend Tanya Scheff, the rector at St. Paul’s. “We were looking for a way to augment the food pantry programs, and we know that WIC [Women, Infants and Children, a federally funded nutrition program] provides the opportunity to purchase certain things, but we’re also very aware that there are young ladies that can’t go to school during parts of the month; they don’t have proper hygiene items to be able to go to school.”

Reverend Scheff adds that the church believes that no one should have to skip school or miss a job interview because they don’t have clean clothes or menstrual products, or can’t buy hygiene items.

“WIC doesn’t cover these things, and most of the food pantries around here don’t either. So we saw a need, and there’s a strong desire here to reach out into our community,” said Reverend Scheff. “Dr. Jen Farmer, who is a local veterinarian, and her husband, Brad, started doing the research on how to properly run an essentials cabinet, and it’s going to be very fluid at first, until we find a way to help it fit into the community, but we’re very excited.”

Reverend Scheff provided the Gadsden County Times with a list of items that the essentials cabinet are looking to provide:

• Shampoo, in 12 to 24 ounce containers.

• Soap, individually wrapped bars or 16-32 ounce containers.

• Laundry Detergent, 24-40 ounce sizes.

• Dish Soap, 16-24 ounces.

• Safety Razors, 1-5 packs.

• Shaving Cream, 8-12 ounces.

• Toothpaste, 1-3 packs.

• Toothbrush, 1-3 packs.

• Deodorant, 3-5 ounces.

• Feminine Hygiene Products, individually wrapped.

• Diapers, individually wrapped.

• Wipes, 50-100 count.

• Toilet Paper, individually wrapped, up to 40 count.

“We have a storage area downstairs,” Scheff continues. “We’re asking people to call and make an appointment, or be referred in by another agency. They’ll come in, and we’ll seat them here in the parish hall and make them comfortable, and we’ll have a shopper go downstairs and fill out their needs list and bring it back up here in a bag. We’re trying to do it by appointment now. We don’t want people having to wait in line down the street for feminine products and soap. We maintain dignity.”

Scheff also explains that these products are available to anyone in the community who needs them.

“You know, sometimes we all come up short, and it’s a couple of days until payday and you need a roll of toilet paper. It’s happened to all of us. So you don’t have to be of a specific economic group. You don’t have to be on social services. If you need, just let us know. But if you can help, let us know too. We can all make this work together.”

Those seeking to make an appointment are asked to call (850) 583-4440.

This number will connect directly to an Essentials Cabinet volunteer voice mailbox, and the volunteers will be notified when a message is left.

“It’s very grassroots right now,” says Scheff. “We’re not trying to make a program and make the community fit to the program. We’re trying to develop something that can be an asset to the community, and mold it to the needs of the community. Right now, it’s individuals from within the community, but we are looking to expand to work with any large organizations that can help move this forward, once we’ve found out exactly what our needs are. Right now, we’ve received a lot of financial donations and goods from a lot of individuals. We’re in this for the long haul, so this will be ongoing. We want everybody to come here and know that they are loved and their dignity is being respected.”

Stephen Klein - Gadsden County News Service

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Quincy church opens ‘Essentials Cabinet’ to provide hygiene items to local community

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