You often hear people say that one person can't make a difference.

But a Cheyenne 12-year-old girl is proving that isn't true. And that ''one person" doesn't even have to be an adult.

Fallon Bowie is collecting hygiene items for homeless people and for Cheyenne school students who may not have access to such items. She doesn't let being a kid stop her either. Fallon's mom, Kim Bowie, says the girl is "a force to be reckoned with" once she sets her mind to something.

How Did She Come Up With The Idea?

So how did this happen? Fallon says she was looking for a community service event as part of competing in scholarship pageant in late 2023 or early 2024. She says not long after, she read online articles that some students in Cheyenne-area schools didn't have access to hygiene items. ''Especially girls were looking for period products that they felt nervous about going to teachers (about)."

''So I went to my mom and said 'what if I started my own organization that focused on hygiene?"

She says Angel Maldonado, owner of the Presidential Barbershop in Cheyenne and founder and organizer of the "We got your back" program, which aims to help kids with things such as backpack and toy drives. She says Maldonado invited her and her mom to a grocery drive event at the barbershop. That is when they first started giving away bags with hygiene items.

She says she also gave a presentation to the Zonta Club of Cheyenne "and they were amazing."

Fallon says the next step in her drive will be to contact Laramie County School District#1 to find out about students who may need hygiene products. She says ideally she would like to have the hygiene bags in each school so that students who need them would have access there,

She says the bags for schools will include soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes and shampoo as well as hygiene products for girls. She says it can be especially embarrassing for girls to have to ask the school nurse for help in getting such items.

Fallon says they are also getting bags together for local homeless shelters, Those bags will include items like body wipes that don't require water, since homeless people often don't have easy access to water or bathing facilities. She also hopes to be able to include such things as wash clothes, gloves and socks to help homeless people survive Cheyenne's brutal winter weather.

People can donate on Facebook at Fallon's giving bags People can also message through that page is they either would like to donate or need help with hygiene items.

Fallon and her mom Kim were the guests on the ''Weekend in Wyoming" program on am 650, KGAB on Saturday. You can hear the interview below.

 

 

Safe Winter Driving in Wyoming

“Crashes spike in winter months when driving conditions become more challenging. Staying safe on the roads in winter weather requires extra caution and careful driving" notes WYDOT.

Gallery Credit: Kolby Fedore, Townsquare Media

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