‘Wash’ off Wednesday’ results in toiletries donations
Courtesy photo
Canton Lion Benja Mize and Canton Lion President Bob Giles display some of the toiletry items donated as part of the club’s “Wash’ off Wednesday.”
On Oct. 18, 2015, the director of the Manna Food Bank spoke to the Canton Lions Club.
She told the club about one couple who came in for food. The husband had been laid off from work. The wife’s arm was in a cast and she was unable to work. They picked up their food and then saw a shelf with a few toiletries on it.
The wife said, “Oh look, honey. Soap. We’ll have soap tonight when we bathe the kids.”
I am a single mom and we pinched pennies. But we always had soap.
This story really bothered me.
I decided that maybe our club could buy soap. I thought about a project: If all of our members would give me a dollar a month for three months, we could provide Manna with about 270 toiletry items.
The project needed a name and I thought of Felicia. Back in the early 70s, I taught special education in a rural, poor school. I would gently urge my students to take a shower every night. About three days a week, Felicia would always say the same thing, “Miss Ma, I didn’t take no bath last night. My mama gave me a wash’ off.”
Since our club meets on Wednesdays, I decided to call my project “Wash’ off Wednesday.”
I talked to our club’s Past District Governor Jimmy Strickland and his wife Kathryn about my project to see if they agreed it would be something our club could do. They liked the idea, and I got permission from our board the next week.
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