High School Student's Foundation Helps Those in Need

Giving back always has been paramount for Orland Park resident Kate Rost and over the past year she stepped up her game with the creation of the CareKit Foundation.

Devoted to helping others, the idea of creating the foundation grew from her desire to earn the Gold Award, the highest award bestowed upon deserving young ladies involved with the Girl Scouts of America. The junior at Providence Catholic High School in New Lenox will earn the award in May but has no plans to stop her work with the foundation.

“As a 12-year-member of the Girl Scouts, I have spent much time volunteering at homeless shelters and helping to clean and repair schools for the school year,” Rost said. “These experiences have always had a big impact on the way I look at life and when deciding what my main goal would be for my Gold Award, service to people and students in need was an easy choice.”

The CareKits are filled with toiletries, socks, washcloths, school supplies and other incidentals for people in need. Rost, her family, friends and members of her troop have spent countless hours packaging items to distribute to homeless shelters, women’s shelters, pantries, churches and schools. To date, the Foundation has distributed approximately 600 CareKits as well as school supplies to more than 250 children. “I have been blessed with a Catholic education at Cardinal Joseph Bernardin School and now Providence Catholic High School, and I want others to receive the best education possible and not be limited by their resources,” Rost said.

Items for the CareKits have come from families in the community, local businesses, Girl Scout Troops #60190 and #60303 from Cardinal Joseph Bernardin School in Orland Hills and from students from Saint Xavier University, who have continuously collected items for the foundation. “Every donation—large or small, is helpful and greatly appreciated,” Rost said.

Most of what the Foundation collects includes travel-size shampoo, conditioner, lotions, body wash, toothpaste, razors, toothpaste, dental floss, mouthwash, lip balm, deodorant and other items like socks, hard candy, toothbrushes and miscellaneous hygiene products. The Foundation also collects new spiral notebooks, loose leaf paper, markers, pencils, glue sticks, highlighters, book covers and folders, plus new and gently used pens, pencils, crayons, colored pencils, scissors, rulers, protractors and calculators for students. In addition, the group collects paper towels, hand sanitizers and tissues for the schools.

“I have a new found appreciation for what I have and I understand the importance of not taking anything for granted,” Rost said.

Persons who would like to contribute items or make a monetary donation for the CareKits can contact Rost at carekitfdn@gmail.com or through the Foundation’s website.