The Rotary Club of Stuart has been awarded a District 7570 Matching Grant to help support the needs of students at Patrick County High School for the 2025-2026 school year.
Kristie Bentley, Stuart Rotary Club President, and author of the grant, explained that food insecurity is a common problem that most people are aware of, and there are usually resources in place to meet those needs, but after talking with school guidance staff, a need was identified for non-food items that we tend to forget about like hygiene items. We take it for granted that everyone has access to them, but deodorant, shampoos, etc., can be very expensive.
The Fresh Essentials Grant was written to help address the need for hygiene items for students at Patrick County High School. It is a matching grant, which means that the Rotary Club of Stuart provides funding for the grant, and Rotary District 7570 matches those funds for approved service projects.
The Fresh Essentials Grant has provided $8,000 worth of much needed hygiene items for students during this school year. Multiple deliveries have been made to the school including fall, Christmas, spring, and there will be an end of school distribution as well. Approximately 200 care bags will be distributed this year as well as many hundreds of individual items that have been distributed.
This past Monday, Rotarians, community volunteers, Sr. Beta students, and SkillsUSA students all helped to sort, assemble, and load care packages for distribution at the high school. The Fresh Essentials District Grant Project is a “sweet smelling” way to help serve the community.
