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| Margot Zarella |
The annual Soap for Hope drive, overseen by University of Delaware senior Margot Zarella, filled a truck with more than 25,000 bars of soap bound for Haiti and the Dominican Republic on Friday, May 10.
"We have collected bars of soap all over campus, and throughout the country, in hopes of providing an incentive for vaccination shots in both Haiti and Dominican Republic," Zarella said.
Zarella said the idea for Soap for Hope bubbled forth after a global awareness retreat she attended while a student at Norwest High School in West Hartford, Conn.
One of the speakers was Karen Kohl of the Haitian Health Foundation, who explained that the organization gave children a bar of soap and washcloth after they completed their vaccinations. Zarella spoke to Kohl and decided to launch Soap for Hope.
 "Soap costs a day's pay in Haiti, so it's a luxury," she said. "Giving away the soap encourages personal hygiene and also getting vaccinated in a country which has many health problems."
During her junior year in high school, Zarella collected 635 bars of soap for the foundation. That number grew to 16,462 during her junior year at UD and to more than 25,000 this year.
This year, Zarella also collected washcloths, and more than 8,400 were received.
Zarella said she hopes the project will continue at Delaware after she graduates on May 25.
May 15, 2002
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