KEENE VALLEY — Keene Valley Congregational Church is asking for donations as they work to send hygiene kits to people whose lives have been upended by Hurricane Helene. Nancy McArthur, who serves as treasurer at the church, is spearheading the effort, which comes as the southeast U.S. braces for a second severe storm in about a week. As of press time, Hurricane Milton was expected to make landfall last night.

“It’s just terrible, the toll it’s taken on people,” McArthur said. She has a sister near Charlotte who has been impacted by the storm. “This is a little thing, but hopefully there’ll be a lot of little things, and that will make a difference.”

The church is sending hygiene kits through Church World Service, an ecumenical charitable organization. The church has worked with them before, putting together hygiene and other kinds of kits that are distributed to people in need around the globe.

McArthur decided to focus their effort on hygiene kits since it was listed as a major need by Church World Service and in some of the media coverage she has seen. The goal is to keep it simple and get as many kits assembled as possible. She hopes people from all over the community will get involved and said she’s heard from a teacher at Keene Central School who is interested in getting the kids involved.

“We don’t have many opportunities to convey to children that they have the ability to help and they have the ability to help people who are less fortunate,” McArthur said. “And it’s a beautiful thing.”

McArthur encourages anyone and everyone who is interested to contribute. They are welcoming donations of entire hygiene kits, as well as components for the kits that the church will assemble at a community event at 11:15 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 27. Monetary donations may also be made by check, which will be used to purchase more supplies and to cover the two-dollar handling fee that must be paid per kit. All donations can be dropped off at the church office at 1791 State Route 73 in Keene Valley.

The church has help from a small grant from their denomination, the United Church of Christ, to get started, but the need is much greater. To save money on shipping costs, McArthur plans to deliver the kits personally to Church World Service in Conneticut on Oct. 28. She hopes to collect at least 100 kits, maybe more.

“If you don’t respond quickly, what’s the point?” McArthur said. “The more people in the region that can bring these to us, the more delighted we would be to deliver them down there.”

The supplies requested in each kit are:

¯ One 1-gallon Ziploc bag

¯ One hand towel measuring 15″x28″ to 16″x32″ (No fingertip, bath, dish, or micro-fiber towels)

¯ One washcloth

¯ One wide-tooth comb removed from the package (Found at discount dealers like sallybeauty.com. Must be sturdy with at least 6″ of teeth. Rattail and combs without handles are acceptable)

¯ One fingernail or toenail clipper (Either one is acceptable. Remove from packaging.)

¯ One bath-size bar of soap in the original package

¯ One toothbrush in the original package

¯ Ten standard size Band-Aids

All items must fit inside the Ziploc bag. The estimated cost of each kit is $15.

Other opportunities

to help

Rev. John Yonkovig said that St. Agnes, as well as the other Catholic churches in the area, are currently sending all hurricane support contributions to the North Country Mission of Hope. He said that after the situation with Hurricane Milton becomes more clear, the congregation may decide on an additional response, but there are no plans yet.