University of Colorado Law School students, faculty, and staff stepped back from the exams and seminar papers that accompany the end of the semester to help those in need by assembling winter care kits for Boulder’s homeless and indigent communities. In its first year, the Colorado Law Winter Care Kits Drive emerged from a collaboration between the Colorado Law Public Service Committee, the Christian Legal Society, and the Jewish Law Students Association, all of whom wanted to find a way to unite the Colorado Law community in an act of service during the holiday season.
Donation boxes placed around the law school building filled up quickly as students, faculty, and staff generously donated items for the kits, including toiletries, socks, gloves, and diapers. On December 4, the last day of classes for the semester, the Colorado Law community assembled 90 winter care kits. Nearly every kit included shampoo, soap, lotion, lip balm, deodorant, a toothbrush, toothpaste, a pack of tissues, and something warm such as socks or gloves. The drive received a box full of feminine hygiene products and more than 200 diapers.
Volunteers took several kits directly to the Colorado Law Clinic to be distributed to indigent clients. They brought the remaining kits and donations to Bridge House, a local nonprofit organization committed to creating a culture of opportunity for Boulder’s homeless and working poor, and the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless.
“As law students, we spend a lot of time talking about how law and policy affect indigent people. We also often complain about how stressed and broke or in debt we are. Through the Winter Care Kits Drive, we were able to actually do something to help the indigent people in our community as well as be reminded to be thankful for how blessed and privileged we really are,” said Rebekah Ryan (’17).
“Despite the busyness, exhaustion, and financial stress that often accompany final exams and the holiday season, many still generously donated their time and resources to the drive,” said Professor Amy Schmitz, who helped organize the drive. “In so doing, Colorado Law was able to make a small but tangible impact on the greater Boulder community in a positive way.”