With a mission to ensure that every child in our community has access to personal hygiene items, Refresh Frisco is a brand new non-profit founded in May 2019 working directly with Frisco ISD counselors, nurses, and school staff to help students with personal hygiene issues.
Although Frisco is an affluent area, we still have significant needs here. Refresh Frisco is the only non-profit in our area delivering needed hygiene items directly to Frisco children and teens.
Not only does good hygiene promote better health and prevent illness, infections, and rashes, it’s also about self-confidence and ensuring that all our kids feel good about themselves and their appearance. Lack of self-esteem, especially during the teenage years, can negatively impact a student’s performance in school as well as their ability to form meaningful relationships and friendships.
How Refresh Frisco is Helping
Once a family enrolls their child, they’ll receive quarterly “Refresh Packs” filled with enough full-sized hygiene products to last the student for three months. Packs are distributed four times a year and the average cost of a pack is $25.
Refresh Frisco has distributed over 500 packs to date and is planning to add a sunscreen product to its May distributions to protect our kids during the summer months.
Refresh Packs include:
- Elementary age students: shampoo, conditioner, soap/body wash, lotion, toothpaste, toothbrush, dental floss, a comb and brush, and Chapstick lip balm.
- Middle school and High school students: In addition to all items listed above, these students also receive deodorant, shaving cream, and feminine hygiene products for female students. Refresh Frisco also offers ethnic hair care products.
And, every pack includes a Refresh Card which is a handwritten message of encouragement to all the kids. The Refresh Packs are customized based on the selections made by parents at the time of enrollment.
All packages are discreetly distributed to students via the school and each student’s identity is protected and confidential.
Founder Elizabeth Watkins says,
This is our first year of operation and every day is exciting and full of new blessings and challenges. I’m so grateful for the support of our community and thankful for the tireless work of our board members, Stephanie Cockrill and Christy Brown. Our first distribution took place in November 2019 and we’re working now to distribute later this month. We don’t want a single child in need to be overlooked.
How YOU Can Help Refresh Frisco
With new families enrolling every day, Refresh Frisco is busy ensuring that each pack is filled with items that are tailored to each student receiving the pack, and they can only achieve their mission with your support. Businesses, schools, organizations, and individuals can help support Refresh Frisco by holding hygiene product drives or by making cash donations.
In order to keep up with demand and growth, the organization is looking for a facility that will accommodate their inventory and allow them a space to pack the Refresh Packs every quarter. They’re currently operating out of a small, dimly-lit storage unit.
We recognize that since we’re a new organization, families may not yet know about the service we’re offering. We encourage families interested in our program to contact their school nurse or counselor to find out more details. Our goal right now is to get the word out about Refresh Frisco so that we can achieve our mission of ensuring every child in our community has access to personal hygiene items. ~ Elizabeth Watkins
Of the students enrolled in FISD in 2019, 12.5% (over 7,500 students) are economically disadvantaged. Hygiene items are NOT covered under government assistance programs such as SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), making the need for these items even greater.
Frisco ISD is among the fastest-growing school districts in the nation, and even though we have an excellent reputation, many situations (job loss, family deaths, divorce, medical issues) contribute to the numbers of those in financial crisis on the rise in our community. Let’s make sure our Frisco kids stay fresh and healthy for their future and ours!
