As the severe winter weather continues unabated, West Virginia Northern Community College is seeking support from the community in its efforts to help the homeless.

            As part of its role in the annual commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, WVNCC has planned a community service project that will honor King’s memory and provide assistance to the Greater Wheeling Coalition for the Homeless. The college’s Wheeling campus will serve as the gathering point for personal hygiene items for distribution to the homeless. 

            According to Wheeling Campus Coordinator Rebecca Yesenczki, members of the public are being asked to donate personal hygiene items on Monday, Jan. 18, which is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Yesenczki said the items can be dropped off at the college’s Wheeling campus Education Center, 17^th and Eoff streets, anytime between 9-11 a.m. that day. Earlier that day, the college hosts area children at a free breakfast as part of the commemoration.

            “Helping the homeless during this terrible weather is a fitting tribute to Dr. King’s memory,” Yesenczki said, “and we hope the community will join us in this effort.” Whatever is collected that day will be added to items the college gathered during the first two weeks of the month, she explained.

            Yesenczki said that “things particularly needed by the homeless in the cold winter months” include personal items such as toothpaste/toothbrushes, shampoos/conditioners, hair care products, hand and body lotions, bar soaps, women’s sanitary products, men’s and women’s antiperspirants, disposable razors, shaving cream, foot powder, hairbrushes, toilet tissue, paper towels, all sizes of disposable diapers, diaper ointments/creams/powders, baby oil, first aid products/band-aids, nail clippers, over-the-counter medications, lip balm. Winter clothing and blankets also are needed.

            More information about this project can be obtained by contacting Yesenczki via email at ryesenczki@wvncc.edu or by calling her at Northern at 304-214-8926.