Community comes together to create "Care Closet" at local middle school

FORTVILLE — Take what you need whether it be hygiene products, food or clothes, and remember you're loved. That's the message at the Mt. Vernon Middle School Care Closet.

Erin Brown’s number one goal as the guidance counselor at MVMS is making sure all a child’s needs are met.

She called on the community to act and they delivered.

“Middle school years are probably the toughest years of anyone's life I would say, and so having that extra piece of security knowing that they go home, and they have food [and] they have the toiletries they need, they can come to school feeling and looking confident,” Brown said.

She told WRTV over the last two years she’s seen the needs of her students grow, so she went to social media to see if anyone in the community would donate to her Care Closet.

“I mean it blew up and I just am floored with the just love that our community has poured into our school here. I put it on Facebook, I created an Amazon Wishlist just throwing it out there to see you know honestly, I was ready to go out and buy all this stuff myself and I was like you know, I'm going to reach out to the community, and they delivered,” Brown said.

Thanks to the community, all of the drawers are filled and ready for students next year.

“When they come in here, they can shop, they'll feel safe, they'll feel loved and then they can just take their bag, put it in their locker [or] put it in their backpack. [It] doesn't have to be a big show about anything but then they get home and they feel safe and then they can come back to school the next day ready to learn,” Brown said.

Food donations are especially important right now because free breakfast and lunch for every student are set to expire before the next school year begins.

You can see Brown’s wish list right now by clicking here.