Working at Round Table Pizza in Camas, Emily Bishop has learned about the challenges people facing homelessness struggle with on a daily basis.
“There’s a lot of homeless people that kind of hang out over there,” Bishop said. “Nine times out of 10, they’re some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. Homeless people are people. They deserve to be looked after and to be helped.”
Bishop, a Washougal High School senior, is collecting donations to put together feminine hygiene kits, which she plans to give to local homeless shelters next spring.
“I’m happy that I get to make change in the community, even if it’s for a short time. I hope it inspires other people to think about how poorly homeless people are treated — especially around here,” Bishop said.
The kits are part of her efforts to attain a Girl Scouts Gold Award, the highest achievement in the organization. The award is earned by fewer than 6 percent of eligible senior and ambassador Girl Scouts, according to the national organization.
“It’s a pretty big thing in Girl Scouts to get your Gold Award, especially because so many girls don’t go past elementary school,” Bishop said.
Bishop said she hopes her feminine hygiene kits will inspire other Girl Scouts to think about the daily struggles homeless people experience.
“I hope to inspire other Girl Scouts to take more steps to help homeless people and just raise awareness about how big of a problem it is,” Bishop said.
Bishop has been a member of the Washougal Girl Scout Troop 45703 for the past 10 years.
“I’ve done a lot of community service through Girl Scouts. It’s really opened me up to a lot of opportunities, and it’s helped me see the world in a different way than most teenagers,” she said.
Bishop decided to make feminine hygiene kits because homeless people can struggle with access.
“Feminine hygiene products are so hard to get a hold of, especially if you don’t have any money, and homeless shelters only get so much. I think that just really drove me,” she said.
Bishop contacted three organizations for Vancouver homeless in early November. Two responded: the Council for the Homeless and Open House Ministries.
“I said, ‘Here’s what a Gold Award is. Here’s what I want to do. I want to create feminine hygiene boxes. Roughly how many would you need?’ ” Bishop said. “They (responded) ‘Whatever you have is great. We’ll take anything.’ After that, I started posting, primarily on Facebook, in community groups. I’d be like, ‘Hey, does anybody have any pads or deodorant or toothpaste or toothbrushes that you’re not using?’ ”
Bishop hopes to have 200 kits by mid-March, and is filling shoe boxes with pads, tampons, panty liners, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, compact hair brushes, hair ties, lip balm and lotion.
She is encouraging residents to donate products they already have or to purchase off her Amazon wish list. She is accepting cash donations and offering gift-wrapping services to raise funds for the project.
“I had one lady donate 180 toothbrushes; she bought them off Amazon,” Bishop said. “I’ve had a lot of packages at my door from people buying things off the Amazon wish list. It’s just been really great to see how willing the community is to help.”
Girl Scouts aren’t Bishop’s only community effort.
She serves as the Washougal City Council’s student representative during the 2024-25 school year, delivering reports about Washougal High School activities and providing feedback on city issues during council meetings.
“It’s definitely really interesting. I get to see the fun and the boring parts, of course, and how it all works,” said Bishop, who is planning to study neuropsychology after graduation. “I didn’t really know much about how the local government worked at all, so I think it’s a great learning opportunity.”
