Our Story

Our Story

Identifying the Need

Giving the Basics started in the Midwest in 2009 to assist a single mother in need of toilet paper.

The young mother had been to the grocery store with a government card in hand, only to discover hygiene products, like soap, shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste and laundry detergent are not covered by any kind of government assistance programs. The hygiene products were removed from her cart as she went through the check out. Embarrassed and confused, she walked away knowing she and her young family would likely have to go without these products. After becoming overwhelmed, she reached out to a close friend for help and her needs and those of her children were immediately met.

Our Story
The Giving the Basics Story
When our founder heard about her friend’s need for basic hygiene products, she couldn’t shake the feeling that this single mom wasn’t alone in her struggle.

She couldn’t help but think to herself “There Are Others. There Are More.”

There Are Others. There Are More.

While this young mother worked hard to get back on her feet, the Giving the Basics team was quickly and quietly working behind the scenes, to develop a strategic way to help hundreds of thousands of other people in the community also in desperate need of hygiene products. Happily, Giving the Basics was born! Improved health, hope and dignity were right around the corner for so many people.

Expanding The Impact

After a formal launch in 2011, Giving the basics since been blessed with incredible growth. Teaming up with over 700 locations, including local schools, pantries, police departments and senior centers to distribute our much needed hygiene products to those in need, we are now reaching over 400K people on a regular basis. Wonderful and generous people have stepped forward to help us build a stronger and more focused community.

We believe every person deserves to have an opportunity for dignity. Being able to be clean and presentable can drastically change the trajectory of a person’s life.

GTB Board Members