TAMPA, Fla. — This year, Ginger Bean will help dress more than 11,000 Hillsborough County students.
She is not a designer or a retailer.
Bean is the head of Oasis, a Tampa-based nonprofit collecting donated clothes, toiletries, school supplies and more for at-risk and homeless students.
“Oasis serves kids of all ages, from babies to children to seniors in high school,” says Bean.
The relationship between Hillsborough County Schools and Oasis is unique.
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There are four secret Oasis “shopping” locations only accessible by school social workers. They are able to immediately get supplies for specific cases. There is no red tape or filling out of excessive forms.
Students can maintain dignity and privacy by getting the clothes from social workers.
If you’d like to donate clothes, shoes, toiletries, for any and all ages and genders, there are two drop-off locations:
- New Tampa YMCA, 16221 Compton Dr, Tampa
- South Tampa YMCA, 4411 S. Himes Ave, Tampa
For more information on how you can help Oasis, click here.
