The shampoo vials you took from the hotel at the beach last summer? Samantha Tremblay wants ‘em. She'll also take the free shower caps and hand soap. Tremblay, an Elon senior, is the driving force behind a nonprofit that collects toiletries for impoverished families. And she’s trying to expand her reach.
The toiletry items will be donated to four local charitable organizations: the American Red Cross in Burlington, Allied Churches, Family Abuse Services and Residential Treatment Services. The recipients distribute the toiletries to those in need within the Alamance County community.
But for Tremblay, who hopes to work in sports marketing after graduation, the collection drive is just one part of her future plans for a charity she started as a high school freshman in 2000. Ideally, Tremblay said, she’ll be able to recruit volunteers at other universities and high schools across the United States to begin their own chapters of “Little Things.”
“It’s such an easy thing to do and requires almost no work at all,” she said in a recent interview. Step one: Send a letter to local businesses, schools and homes explaining your purpose. Step two: Post signs that Tremblay provides around those businesses. Step three: Stick a box inside the main entrance. “That’s it. It’s so easy and takes no time at all.”
“Little Things Mean A Lot, Inc.” originated from a service project Tremblay was assigned in high school. She and her mother didn’t want to collect money, and other charities already solicit toys, so the duo settled on unopened toiletries after concluding that many people never use the freebies they take from hotels. And they would be a luxury for people who couldn’t afford them
“Everyone brings them home and many people take a handful from the housekeeping cart when they walk by!” Tremblay said. “At least it goes to good use.”
The charities that help impoverished people welcome such donations with open arms. And the satisfaction derived from helping others led Tremblay to continue collecting toiletries long after the class assignment ended. LTMAL is today a registered nonprofit whose monetary donations are tax deductible.
Seven years later, Tremblay, along with volunteers in Massachusetts who organized their own drives under the “Little Things” name, have collected more than 10,100 pounds of donations. The number continues to grow. “There are people out there who have nothing,” Tremblay said, “and this may help them use what little money they have in other ways.”
Click on the link below for more information on “Little Things Mean A Lot” and ways you can help support the organization.