The College of Criminology & Criminal Justice Student Leadership Council (SLC) recently held a donation drive for inmates of the Gadsden County Jail. At the SLC’s Fall General Body Meeting, the organization collected feminine hygiene products and travel size toiletry products for inmates of the Gadsden County Jail, as well as laptops for their children. The items were donated by attendees of the meeting.
The idea came from College senior, Rachel Fluriach, who serves as Chair for the College’s SLC. Fluriach works for the Leon County Public Defender’s Office within Florida’s Second Judicial Circuit. The public defender’s office has ongoing donation collections to benefit the Gadsden County Jail, as many of their clients are inmates there. This prompted Fluriach to propose the idea of a collection drive to the SLC.
Like other donation drives, the SLC’s drive addressed needs within the community. The Gadsden County Jail does not provide female inmates with feminine hygiene products, so the inmates are often forced to forego necessities or purchase them at inflated rates from the jail commissary. The items collected through the SLC’s donation drive are being freely distributed, as needed, alleviating a basic need and concern of many female inmates. Additionally, upon release many inmates find themselves without personal hygiene products. The toiletry items collected through the drive are being distributed to inmates upon their release, assisting them with obtaining basic personal hygiene necessities and alleviating an often overlooked concern as they are reintegrating into society. The SLC also collected laptop computers for children of jail inmates, to help bridge the digital divide that impacts children of lower income families, made worse when a parent is incarcerated.
The SLC plans to continue holding donation drives for toiletries, feminine hygiene products, and electronics for children to benefit Gadsden County in the fall and, if they can, expand their efforts to Leon County as well.
The Student Leadership Council (SLC) is a Recognized Student Organization (RSO) by Florida State University’s Student Government Association. The SLC serves as the liaison between the student body, the college administration, and the FSU student government.
The council is composed of undergraduate majors and graduate students in criminology and criminal justice who work directly with the Dean, a faculty adviser, and the college administration to provide a student perspective. They create and oversee beneficial programming for students in an attempt to improve opportunities for personal and professional growth within the discipline.
Major Robert Barkley of the Gadsden County Sheriff’s Department (left) receiving donated items collected by SLC from Rachel Fluriach, SLC Chair.