photo by: Emma Delk

Marshall County Family Resource Network Family Support Center Coordinator Jodi Clark stuffs a bag with hygiene products for the Teen Christmas Gift Distribution project.

MOUNDSVILLE — Marshall County Family Resource Network employees were busy Tuesday preparing more than 250 Teen Christmas bags to distribute to local students for the holidays.

The bags contain hygiene, personal care and gift items and will be given discreetly to in-need students at middle and high schools in Marshall County over the coming week.

The gift distribution project has taken place annually since 2013. This year, 277 students were identified to receive a bag, which Kimberli Green, Marshall County FRN executive director, said is one of the “largest numbers” of bags the organization has had to prepare.

“Each year, the number of students tends to increase,” Green said. “Our focus this year, and every year, is to plan for more. That way, when the numbers come in, we’re usually pretty prepared.”

The project is supported by the Carolyn Dalzell Closet of Hope, an initiative by the FRN that seeks to provide needed essentials to the families and children in our local community. Items for the drive are collected through the closet.

Green said they begin buying items in January and start “focusing heavily” on collecting items in November, since the project “depletes” their closet of items. She noted holiday sales at stores such as Bath & Body Works help them buy shampoo, conditioner and other hygiene items in large quantities. The bags also include other items such as socks, deodorant, chapstick, toothbrushes and toothpaste.

The Marshall County FRN also partners with other organizations to receive product donations to help fill the bags. Green thanked the donors, partners and community members who “make the project possible” through their support.

The value of each bag is “about $100,” according to Green. She added they often try to throw in a fun item for the kids to enjoy, with each bag this year including a pack of rechargeable wireless earbuds.

Green noted the project targets a demographic that can sometimes be overlooked during other holiday giving initiatives – teenagers. She outlined many Giving Tree projects in Marshall County focus on younger children, and the Marshall County FRN wants to make sure teenagers are not “left out” and receive “something special” for the holiday season as well.

“We started this project to focus on some of the older kids and try to make the season magical for them also,” Green said. “This might be the only thing that they get this season, so we just want to make sure that it’s things that are necessary, like hygiene items, but then also something that makes them feel like they’re special and is some sort of present as well.”