Can You Spare A Toothbrush? <br> One Insanely Simple Way To Make A Big Difference

There are certainly complex issues in our child welfare system. But there are also some fairly simple-to-address issues too. To me, this is one of them.
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This morning I was in my office feverishly responding to emails when I heard a woman outside my door ask, "Do you guys have any toothbrushes?"

Two lovely women from one of our local child protective services offices were in our facility picking up clothing, toys and personal care items for kids in foster care. I decided to find out more about this request.

The women shared with me that they are frequently faced with situations where a child enters foster care and is in need of a toothbrush when arriving at their new placement. She said she was shocked at how often this need came up and mentioned her plans to ask a local dental practice if they might be able to help. After sending her off with an entire box of new toothbrushes, generously donated to One Simple Wish by a kind individual, our team sat down to make a list of more simple items like these that caseworkers, like the two women today, had asked about a lot over the past 8 years.

The list included toothbrushes, toothpaste, body wash, body sponges, lotion, hair spray, feminine hygiene products; some of the most basic items that we all rely on daily. Our team all agreed; it shouldn't be hard to make sure that the children who are facing the trauma of their past and an uncertain future in the child welfare system have immediate access to these essentials.

So, what next? Well, we can take the discussion of this problem in two directions. Option 1: We can start to question why the foster homes and group homes don't have all of these items readily available. We can start a petition, maybe, to require that they do. We can check the policies, laws, etc. Option 2: We can simply fill the need.

Now while I prefer to do both, I'm asking all of you to just join me in Option 2. Because, after all, how simple would it be to pick up a few extra toothbrushes next time you were at the store? How challenging would it be to include an extra body wash or lotion in your next grocery order? If just a fraction of the people reading this article chose to chip in, imagine how quickly we could resolve this very solvable issue?

That is what I am really trying to get at. There are certainly complex issues in our child welfare system. But there are also some fairly simple-to-address issues too. To me, this is one of them.

So how, logistically, do we make this work without overwhelming a local group home or a local child welfare office with enough shampoo to last an eternity? Here are a few ideas:

  1. Send them to One Simple Wish. Our organization partners with more than 800 agencies in 49 states in the US. We can always find a group in need of these items. Here's our address: 1977 N Olden Ave, #292, Trenton, NJ 08618.
  2. Call and ask your local agency. This is a listing of child welfare offices, by state. Find your local office and call and ask if they have a need like this.
  3. Hold a drive & then donate. After you determine what the need is in your local area, or if you decide you'd like to send a whole bunch of goodies to One Simple Wish, host a drive at your office, home or other group setting. Tell us about it so we can tell others. Even if it's a local drive, we can promote it on our social media properties. You can reach us at info@onesimplewish.org

The bottom line is this: Toothbrushes, or a lack thereof, should not be an issue we can't solve. We can open up the conversation about why it's even an issue in another blog post, but for now, let's just get this one resolved.

NOTE: This will be the first in a series of posts I will be doing about what I deem to be very solvable issues in our child welfare system. I welcome all your feedback to make the outcomes as positive as possible for our kids. Email me at danielle@onesimplewish.org.

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