Miami Palmetto High School rising senior Lauren Almodovar recently started a community service project called Hearts for Hygiene.
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She conducts hygiene products drives with the ultimate purpose of donating the products to the Camillus House and Palmetto Middle School.
“I donated 400-500 items including feminine products, Kleenex wipes, hand sanitizers, toothbrushes, toothpaste and towels,” she says. “I drive them down to Camillus House in boxes.
And for the middle school I put the feminine products in little pouches and put them in the teacher’s rooms so the kids can go in and grab them.”
Each pouch had 10-15 feminine products for the girls to use both at school and at home. She provides pads because the middle school has banned tampons because of clogging.
Almodovar says she realized that if the middle schooler does not have pads at school, they probably don’t have any at home, either.
“It’s so expensive now,” she says. “It’s not like a choice. It’s not like I want to buy it. It’s really needed.”
She says she’d been mulling the idea of starting the non-profit for a while and began implementation at the beginning of January.
“I have an Amazon Wish list where family members and friends donate,” she says.
So far, she’s donated to Palmetto Middle two times and Camillus house four or five times. The donations have pretty much come from friends and family. She hopes to connect with a school club next year to increase donations.
“It’s been very helpful within the Pinecrest community,” she says. “I’ve had my mom spread the link to her friends. I just think being a girl with feminine product, basic hygiene products are more of a necessity.”
Almodovar would like to bring other people into her project so it can continue after she graduates.
At school, she is going into her fourth year as a varsity lacrosse player. She also plays club lacrosse. She was playing with the now defunct Florida Prime travel team so she’s looking for a new team to play for.
This year, she was named to the Miami Herald All Miami-Dade Lacrosse first team due to her 49 points, 24 goals and 23 assists. Last year she was on the honorable mention list.
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At school, she is the co-chair of student involvement for student council.
“We are advocates for the kids’ voices,” she says. “We make sure they feel they are heard. They come to us with ideas and we find a way to implement them.”
The committee also works on the annual Club Fair, and they organize the Fun Fridays in the courtyard during lunch.
“It’s a way of getting everybody to unify into one,” she says. “It’s a way of building school spirit.”
She is the secretary on the board of the Palmetto Women’s Union and an active member of the National Honor Society. She’s also the liaison for Panther Buddies.
“It’s a peer-to-peer project for students with special needs,” she says. “We advocate for them. Every other Monday, we have lunch with them. We do certain activities including Special
Olympics. It’s great to see these kids’ faces light up when they see you. It’s nice they are comfortable with you, but nice that they feel included in a place that could be un-inclusive.”
Her junior year she was the Club Editor for the yearbook but scheduling an additional Advanced Placement class means she won’t be able to be on the staff her senior year.
Almodovar recently won the Palmetto Leadership Award given to someone who takes initiative and steps up to make a difference for others.
Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
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