For Release
October 30, 2017
Drop Your Drawers @ the Library
Make your next visit to the Library a brief one, for a good cause, as part of Marshall County Public Library’s Drop Your Drawers campaign.
Drop off packages of new underwear for boys and girls from October 30 - December 1, at any of the Library’s branches. Donations will help replenish the Marshall County schools’ supplies of emergency underpants and provide direct assistance to each school’s Family Resource Centers.
Why underwear? Simply put: there is a great need.
“There is definitely a need for a program like the Drop Your Drawers campaign,” says Melissa Elrod of the Benton-Central Resource Center. “There are times when we need extra pairs of underwear, like when a child doesn’t make it to the bathroom in time or has a spill in the lunchroom. We probably hand out around 200-300 pair of underwear at each school every year.”
This year, the library’s campaign will expand to include adult-sized underwear for the two middle schools in Marshall County. According to Glenda Byers of the Youth Service Center at South and North Middle Schools, they hand out 2-3 pairs of underwear a day due to accidents and feminine hygiene issues.
“This may sound really simple, but for a child who is upset and maybe getting made fun of, it’s a really big deal,” says Byers. “It’s great to be able to get them back to class very quickly, and get them feeling good about themselves.”
The Marshall County Public Library is one of many libraries across the state of Kentucky taking part of the Drop Your Drawers campaign, which originated in Campbell County.
“Libraries partnering with our Family Resource Centers shines a light on a situation that most people in the community don’t even realize our students have,” says Lorrie Shadowen, Vice-Principal of Benton Elementary School.
Elrod agrees that the library and community’s involvement is important. “When members of the community do campaigns like the Drop Your Drawers campaign, it is a huge help to the Family Resource Center. There is no way we can do all the things we do on our own.”
New, unopened packages of underwear can be dropped off at all three branches (@Benton, @Calvert City, and @Hardin) of the Marshall County Public Library as well as the Bookmobile throughout the month of November.