Items needed for Holiday Hygiene Drive for Donaldson Correctional Facility by December 16th

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Donaldson Correctional Facility
The Jefferson County Memorial Project is collecting much-needed hygiene items for the men of Donaldson Correctional Facility. Photo via Nathan Watson for Bham Now

What are you hoping for this Christmas? A new gaming console? A TV? What about a bar of soap? For the men at the Donaldson Correctional Facility, basic hygiene products like soap are hard to come by throughout the year. That’s why the Jefferson County Memorial Project is hosting a Holiday Hygiene Drive from now until December 16th. Here’s how you can get involved.

Fulfilling the Need for Hygiene Items

Fun fact: I ran out of shampoo yesterday. For you and me, stocking up on basic hygiene items like shampoo is as easy as taking a 5-minute drive to the nearest grocery store.

But for men at the Donaldson Correctional Facility, access to those basic hygiene products is limited. For starters, they can only order these products every 4-6 months and are limited in how much they can buy. And to make matters worse, the products are often considerably marked up. For example, a 5-ounce tube of toothpaste costs $3.57 at Wal-Mart, but for the men of Donaldson Correctional Facility, that same tube costs $7—almost twice as much.

Enter the JCMP Holiday Hygiene Drive

Holiday Hygiene Drive

In order to ensure that the men at Donaldson have access to basic hygiene needs for the year, the Jefferson County Memorial Project is hosting a Holiday Hygiene Drive. From now until December 16th, they are collecting approved items to donate to the men at Donaldson Correctional Facility:

  • Shampoo
  • Conditioner
  • Body soaps/gels
  • Toothpaste
  • Alcohol-free mouthwash
  • Toothbrushes
  • Deodorant (Powder)
  • Socks (White)
  • Lotion
  • Face Towels (White)
  • T-Shirts (White)

Here’s how you can help.

3 Easy Ways to Get Involved

1. Visit a Public Drop-Off Site

The next time you’re out and about, grab an extra bottle of shampoo, bar of soap, toothbrush or another item from the approved list. Then, you can bring it by one of the Jefferson County Memorial Project‘s three Public Drop-Off Sites throughout Birmingham:

2. Create a Drop-Off Site

Holiday Hygiene Drive
Want to get your organization involved? Setting up a drop-off site is easy! Photo via Jefferson County Memorial Project

Did you know that you can create your own drop-off site? If you’d like to get your place of work, religious institution or other type of organization involved, you can sign up to create a drop-off site.

Pro Tip: Places of work, local libraries and schools, or religious institutions are usually great, easily accessed places!

Click here to learn more about creating a drop-off site.

3. Donate via Amazon

Holiday Hygiene Drive
Donating is easy—just pick out an item or two on the Amazon Wishlist! Photo via Jefferson County Memorial Project

If you can’t make it out to one of the drop-off sites, don’t worry—you can still help out. The Jefferson County Memorial Project has put together an Amazon Wishlist of much-needed items—and the best part? Most are under $5! Making a difference doesn’t get any easier than this.

Click here to view the Jefferson County Memorial Project’s Amazon Wishlist.

Learn More About the Men at Donaldson Correctional Facility

For the past two years, the Jefferson County Memorial Project has worked with the men at Donaldson Correctional Facility—teaching them about our country’s history and listening to their stories. Currently, 1459 men are incarcerated at Donaldson Correctional Facility, serving a variety of sentences.

If you want to learn more about life at Donaldson Correctional Facility, the Jefferson County Memorial Project has put together a blog, with anonymous posts from the men incarcerated there. Click here to hear their stories.

How will you help support the men of Donaldson Correctional Facility? Tag us @bhamnow to let us know!

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Nathan Watson
Nathan Watson

Senior Content Producer + Photographer

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