By the Cerritos College Media Relations Department.
Dental hygiene schools are rigorous and time-consuming; however the Cerritos College dental hygiene students never lose sight of those in the community who are less fortunate and find the time to help them.
For seven years the college's Dental Hygiene program has been involved in the Green Bag Project, a nonprofit organization that collects and distributes food to homeless shelters and soup kitchens.
Every year dental hygiene students and faculty fill green bags with items such as clothing, linens, toiletries, water bottles, easy-to-open food, camping supplies and first aid kits to give to those who are in need on Skid Row.
The founder of the project, Duffy Walton, works with Instructor Marcelene Brabender in the college's dental hygiene community outreach class. He lectures to the students about the project and picks up the piles of donated items, and loads them in the back of his truck. Walton and the students then meet on a specified weekend, to distribute the items to those in need on Skid Row.
"Of all our community projects, I feel like this is a win-win for less fortunate individuals living on Skid Row and for our students who get to see poverty first hand and are able to play a small part in helping," said Brabender.
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