SOUTH BERWICK, Maine — All in an effort for students to have their basic needs met, two high school students in South Berwick, who are also best friends, decided to work together for many months to open a "Community Closet" inside the school available for all.
The closet has pants, shirts, shoes, dresses, button-downs, undergarments, toiletries, snacks, non-perishable food items, and other items that they thought their fellow classmates and student body at Marshwood High School might need to succeed.
As high school seniors, Eva Therrien and Sophie Lusenhop wanted to make sure other seniors graduating had formal and nice, trendy wear for interview opportunities, too.
"I think there is a lot of stigma, and we've heard from counselors and adults around the school that there's definitely students who are in need of products and clothes but are feeling like they don't necessarily want to go to someone and have to ask for that," Lusenhop said.
"We have clothes, shirts, socks, winter gear, pants, we have shoes, we have a lot of dress shoes which is nice, so if kids have an interview they can take dress shoes and then we have dress shirts over here, we have a ton of dress shirts, which is awesome," Therrien said.
Emily Rumble is an English teacher and advisor at the school. Rumble has been helping the girls through the process, and was a big supporter of making this idea a reality.
"It's showing our students that we care about them and that we care about them beyond these walls," Rumble said. "Anyone can come, you don't have to ask, it's a private thing, it's a respectful thing."
"Just feeling fulfilled and feeling happy that I can leave the school with something and help people out with things that they need and want, yeah and I would say proud, too, I feel proud that I'll be making a difference years after I graduate," the girls said about their efforts.
If you would like to send donations, Marshwood High School in South Berwick is taking gently-used clothes and shoes for high school-aged students, both male and female items. Toiletries and non-perishable food items are part of the closet, too.
People can stop and leave the items at the main office of the school at 260 Dow Hwy in South Berwick. People can also mail the items as well to the same address.