Cisco volunteers help build hygiene kits with materials provided by the local nonprofit Clean the World during a conference this week at Mandalay Bay.
Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2019 | 2 a.m.
Local nonprofit Clean the World is partnering with tech company Cisco this week to distribute 8,000 hygiene kits and nearly four tons of food to the homeless in Las Vegas.
Clean the World has been working since 2009 to recycle unused or gently used hotel toiletries and redistribute them to those in need to combat hygiene-related illness. The nonprofit partners with 4,000 hotels across North America. So far it has served 10 million people in more than 127 countries, according to the organization's website.
The group also has a mobile shower truck that travels through various impoverished neighborhoods across the country, said Project Manager Jeremiah Benton. The mobile unit is designed to provide up to 60 showers a day.
To Clean the World, hygiene is just as much of a basic need as food.
"Something people don't think about is that (bathing) is necessary for anyone to stay healthy," he said. "In 2009, 9,000 children died from hygiene-related illness. Today that number is down to 3,900, but that number could be zero."
More than 15,000 Cisco volunteers participated in building the kits during the company's annual sales conference, said Cisco Director of Community Relations Kirsten Weeks. She said the volunteer events are part of the Bay Area company's wider effort to address homelessness and food insecurity worldwide.
"We've donated leftover food from our Vegas conferences to the food insecure since 2015," she said. "Since 2015, we've provided 6,500 meals."
The meals and kits will be distributed to Nevada Homeless Alliance and Three Square food bank.
To learn more about volunteer opportunities at Clean the World, visit cleantheworld.org.
