Submitted by the mother of a Guide:
Two Guides from 424NT Coy volunteered this past Saturday at Soap Cycling, a multi national charity that recycles soap from hotels and distributes it around the world to communities in need. In Hong Kong, over 2 million bars of soap are thrown out each year by hotels. Soap Cycling collects these bars of soap thus preventing chemical waste and volume in landfills. The soap is cleaned by volunteers and then sent to underprivileged regions around the world, with a focus on reducing child mortality rates with the simple act of hand washing.
During the two hours of volunteer service the girls used a paint scraper to clean the visible dirt off the lightly-used bars of soap. Though my daughter and I have volunteered in many ways over the years, Soap Cycling was very eye opening experience for us. The fact that a used bar of soap left to be discarded in your hotel room and never to be thought of again is a need (and possibly a life saving gift) to someone else was a powerful reminder of just how fortunate we are.
Visit soapcycling.org for more information about the charity.
Visit handsonhongkong.org to sign up for a spot.