What have you done to make your school or your community a better place? Anonymous

“Pass me a new toothbrush please!” I heard my father shout. As I opened the bathroom drawer, I was taken aback- why does it look like my family owns a toiletry business? Our drawer was stacked with a range of toothbrushes, soaps in different shapes and sizes, shampoos that could last us a year. What really caught my attention was the stack of hotel toiletries- bottles that we seemed to have collected like souvenirs from all around the world. A few days later, a friend mentioned the number of hotel toiletries she has at home too. We talked to others, and realised this isn’t uncommon- almost everyone had a large number of unused toiletries lying about at home.

As we realised the wastefulness of this, my friend and I discussed the idea of donating these excess toiletries. We researched shelters in Singapore that would accept these items, and found shelters for exploited migrant workers, pregnant teenagers, and homeless families. Toiletries are such basic amenities that are taken for granted, and there is always a need for them at shelters. We decided to run a toiletries drive to collect these amenities and provide them to vulnerable people in need. Our project was called Soap for Hope.

We presented at school assemblies and...