Giving the Basics: SMSD has renewed its partnership with the non-profit Giving the Basics

In January, after a six-year pause, the Shawnee Mission School District renewed its partnership with the non-profit Giving the Basics. The goal is to provide personal hygiene items, including shampoo, conditioner and soap, to students in need. 

SM East Nurse Stephanie Ptacek sent an email to all students on Jan.13  notifying them about this service. The nurse’s office had some donated personal hygiene products available for students when the Giving the Basics service was not provided. However, the hygiene products weren’t publicized because there was no way to refill the cabinet, according to Ptacek. 

Now, with SMSD’s Giving the Basics partnership, SMSD high schools will receive more products that can be ordered from the Giving the Basics website, according to Giving the Basics programs director Joanie Shelley. This allows the district to get the exact products students need. 

Giving the Basics is a local organization that distributes hygiene products across the Kansas City area that are not available through government assistance programs. Kansas school districts can register for a service where the organization provides them with hygiene products to distribute to schools. In 2025, Giving the Basics assisted over 250 school districts across Kansas.

“Students are able to actually feel good about themselves almost like they get to shop for themselves when they can't afford it,” Sheeley said. 

Giving the Basics doesn’t want to waste product, according to Sheeley, so they don’t do one-size-fits-all kits for students. Instead of making a package with basic hygiene necessities, students can pick out exactly what they need. Products are stored in a cabinet in Ptacek’s office for students to access when needed after emailing her or a social worker. 

“It's a great resource because you never know what families are going through,” Ptacek said. “So any way that they can get a little bit of extra support and to take that load off of a family.”

When running low on supplies, Ptacek can send in an order form to the North Job Skills class, where students organize and distribute products that are delivered by the next month. 

After the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Giving the Basics services temporarily shut down until 2024. The non-profit has been slowly making progress in restoring the program back to where it was previously, according to Sheeley. 

“Prior to COVID, we were approximately giving [SMSD] four pallets that were about four feet high, full of product, and it was going out to all of the schools,” Sheeley said.

As of now, Ptacek said, this service is only rolling out to SMSD high schools. They don’t provide the same amount of product now, but the district hopes to provide services to all 44 schools in the future.

“There's just a variety of reasons that people might need this little extra help, so we're happy to be that bridge and help secure access to those needed items,” Ptacek said.