Alise Jorgensen, healthcare course manager in the CSM Continuing Education and Workforce Development Department, left, and Alyssa Stillwell, laboratory program assistant, right, donate used linens to the Humane Society of Charles County. Accepting the donation is Starla Raiborn, the nonprofit's executive director, center. "We are very, very appreciative of the donation," Raiborn said. "We can't operate without the support of the community, and with something as simple as towels, blankets and sheets, it goes a long way in helping us keep things clean and sanitary."LA PLATA, Md. (Sept. 26, 2016)—One College of Southern Maryland employee found the perfect pet for her family at the Humane Society of Charles County. In the process, Alise Jorgensen also found the perfect place to recycle items that could no longer be used in her classroom.
Jorgensen, CSM healthcare course manager on the La Plata Campus, noticed that at the end of the year the towels, linens and blankets used in the certified nursing assistant and geriatric nursing assistant classes had run their course. They were frayed, ripped, stained and no longer usable. Not wanting to have them end up in the landfill, she knew through her dealings with the humane society that the group could make use of the linens.
"This is our first time donating these items," Jorgensen said on a recent morning at the HSCC's office on Industrial Park Drive in Waldorf. "During the year, these towels and linens are used in labs where the students learn the fundamentals of being a nursing assistant and they practice feeding, bathing, dressing and grooming patients and changing linens. Sometimes they use yellow food coloring and the items get stained or the bleach will stain them. Either way, the items have lost their usefulness in the classroom. We'll give them a second life here."
Jorgensen and Allyson Stillwell, laboratory program assistant, stopped by the humane society to make the donation, gladly accepted by HSCC Executive Director Starla Raiborn.
"We are very appreciative of the donation," Raiborn said. "We can't operate without the support of the community, and with something as simple as towels, blankets and sheets, it goes a long way in helping us keep things clean and sanitary."
She said the humane society accepts many household items and other donations from the public.
"If it's a supply and we can use it, we need it as a donation. What we don't get donated to us, we have to purchase. Any donation helps us stretch our resources," she said.
Items on the HSCC wish list include dry dog and cat food, puppy and kitten food, KMR kitten formula, moist cat food, plastic trash bags, scrubbing sponges, non-clumping kitty litter, rubber gloves, four-foot fluorescent bulbs, bleach, white and colored copy paper, dishwashing liquid, hand sanitizer, permanent markers, animal carriers, electric heating pads, digital camera, Frisbees and dog toys, cat climbing trees and toys, bath towels, wash cloths, newspapers, cardboard flats and blankets (no fiber filled or fringe). Find out more about the Humane Society of Charles County and how to donate to the organization at humanesocietycc.org/.
Jorgensen became acquainted with the nonprofit when she adopted a dog in February. She said the 45-pound Shiba Inu-mix is the "perfect pet for my family." Since then, she came up with the idea to donate the leftover classroom supplies that had been accumulating in the department and couldn't be used anymore and got the necessary approvals to make the donation.
Stillwell, who is in charge of the linens and towels used in the classes, said the items were piling up. "They had been sitting in my office for a long time," she said. "So they needed to go. We're very happy to find someone who could actually use them, rather than having to throw them away."
Jorgensen said she would like to make the donation a recurring one. "We are going to try to. Hopefully, this will be a once-a-year donation," she said.
For more information about the nursing assistant courses at CSM, visit www.csmd.edu/programs-courses/non-credit/career-development/healthcare/cna-gna.