kalymnos

The other day I was at homeless shelter with my son (volunteering) and we went together and I asked the administrator what items they need for the people inside the shelter? His reply was soap, shampoo items of that nature to help people when they check in just to get through the day?
So over the past couple weeks or so I was looking at my inventory that they give me when I check into a hotel? I really don't use most of it I'm not that good looking and it really doesn't matter, because I have my shaving kit and my items. So I got to thinking if I could just take the items that were already given to me in the hotel and save them, and take them down to a homeless shelter after a month of being on the road I think it would really help? And then I thought about our industry and I said can you imagine what it would be like if a lot of people had this idea? The room is already paid for I'm not taking anything that wasn't already given to me and I'm just passing it on to somebody that needs it! It sounds very simple but I guess I'm asking everybody if they could think about this and go with their kids and show a small act of kindness? Most of these folks inside of the shelters have absolutely nothing and if we can give them something that makes them feel little better...why not? Thanks for your time...

The dude

What a great idea. I'll start doing the same as of this week.

Being a good person consists of more than just going through the motions.

Cheers

USMCFLYR

My niece teaches special ed in a fairly small town middle school. She told me that she has quite a few kids who are 'hygenically challenged' shall we say. I've been collecting those samples and passing them on to her for use in class for 2 years now. She tells me that it is of great help.

Cbusbased

Thats a great idea! I think i'll have to start doing that. A lot of people say "we need to help each other and unite as a country......" yet no one wants to be proactive about it. Good thinking!

DirectTo

Great idea. I don't get too many overnights but I'll grab anything I can. Anything makes a difference.

sabreflyr

I remember seeing this recently on a TV news program.

From 2011:
Ever wonder what happens to used hotel soap?

http://travel.usatoday.com/hotels/post/2011/04/ever-wonder-what-happens-to-unused-hotel-soap-and-shampoo/167172/1

kalymnos

Thanks for the post so far, is their anyway I can link my message to the airline forum as well? (administrators).. Thank You..

FlyJSH

A fine idea, but there is one thing that disturbs me about this (and I fully expect to get a ration of do-do for my opinion). Taking unused soaps from the hotel for donation is essentially like me taking the change from your pocket and giving it to a charity of MY choice. If unused soaps are okay, what about the backup roll of toilet paper? or the towels? All of those items increase the expenses of the hotel increasing the cost of the room, increasing the cost to the airline, increasing the cost to our customers.

Giving toiletries to shelters is a great idea, but I submit, if one truly believes it is a good idea, rather than stealing the unused stuff from the hotel, buy them yourself (in a quick search, I found soaps at about $0.15 each... or $150 for a thousand).

shoelu

We have receptacles at SWA domiciles for you to deposit the items then the company distributes them to various charities.

LNL76

When my kids were in grade school, they used to collect these items as well as lotions, combs, playing cards and other very inexpensive items one can by at a dollar store to senior citizen homes. One airline I worked for had some crew members who left a box in the crew lounge to collect these items to be distributed to a battered women (and children) shelter.
It's a great idea!