PATH asks for toilet paper donations to help poor

If you see a portable toilet in the Herrington Patriot Center decorated as a space shuttle, there is a good reason behind the spectacle.

People Attempting to Help is asking for citizens of Tyler to drop new packages of toilet paper into the portable toilet, located at five different stations during the first Great Potty Paper Pick-Up offered March 2-31 at five different locations.

The idea came about when AAA Sanitation Company set up an interview with PATH to discuss ways to bring the two companies together. “LaKeidra Lincoln, a representative from AAA Sanitation Company, came to PATH several months ago looking for a way in which their company could become an active partner with our agency,” said Becky Duncan, Community Outreach Coordinator for PATH. “It seemed a perfect partnership to collect ‘potty paper’ in their port-a-potties.”

SGA President Kerrie Ambort believes this event is perfect for the University as another service project.

“The Great Potty Paper Pick-up is a wonderful, student led initiative and provides a positive way for all University students to give back to our community,” Ambort said. AAA Sanitation is scheduled to deliver portable toilets to PATH, Broadway Square Mall, the Downtown Square, Tyler Junior College and the University throughout the month of February.

“They are giving us the portable toilet on Tuesday and they will take the tops off of them so that people can throw the toilet paper in them,” SGA Secretary Alyssa Dorman said.

A representative from PATH attended a Student Organization President’s Council meeting to present the idea to organizations to see if they could gain interest in the drive and rally support.

“PATH has collected toilet tissue for many years, but this is the first ever Potty Paper Pick-Up drive,” Duncan said. “It is wonderful to have students involved in giving back to the community in such a positive manner.

PATH is requesting toilet paper only, said Becky Duncan, PATH Community Outreach Coordinator, to help replenish their pantry during these tough economic times.

“Toilet tissue is an item that everyone needs, but cannot be purchased with food stamps, which many of our clients rely upon to care for their families,” Duncan said. “Nor is it an item which we can purchase at the food bank, where we (PATH) purchase much of the food that we give to clients who seek assistance from our pantry. It is vitally important that everyone who can help do it now.”

Paper donations are scheduled to be collected on a weekly basis and taken to the PATH facility at 402 W. Front St. for distribution to the public.

A decorating contest is scheduled to take place beginning Feb. 16-March 2 for each of the locations with prizes to be determined.

Judging is expected to last throughout the month of March with the winner announced March 24 during a press conference.

Dorman said they decided to head up the initiative because it was the right thing to do for the community.

“I guess we would like to see a closer connection with the Tyler community and a way for students to get involved with volunteering,” she said. “At the SOPC meeting, there were people interested but nobody got the information to know what they needed to do. Nobody was taking the initiative to get it done so we felt like it really needed to be done for our campus.”

The mission of PATH according to their website is to serve, through well-equipped volunteers, the economically disadvantaged people in Smith County with both emergency assistance and programs to empower and encourage them to become productive citizens.

Duncan said PATH officials are hoping for a great turnout for the drive, but no goal has been set on the numbers of rolls they are expecting to receive through donations.

“We don’t know exactly what to expect, since we have not ever had a drive exactly like this one,” she said. “What we know is that the people who live and go to school in East Texas are extremely generous and thoughtful and love to have a good time. A Potty Paper Pick-Up drive should give everyone an opportunity to do both: be generous and have a good time.”