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FOR HOPE Students set aside funds for Nigerian wells SOAP

Kids in Spotsylvania use homemade soap fundraiser for African relief project

By COREY BYERS

Date published: 12/10/2006

Making soap to get water may seem a little backward if you're not a student at Odyssey Montessori in Spotsylvania County.

There, 12- to 14-year-old students started a homemade soap company to fund an end-of-the-year field trip to the Shenandoah Valley.

However, a business plan for The Petite Soap Co. includes a charitable element, too.

Thirty-five percent of the proceeds from soap sales will go to Amman Imman. The nonprofit organization works to bring clean drinking water to people in the West African nation of Niger.

In the first few days of sales, business is booming.

"We're getting orders left and right," said Eva Thornton, a teacher at the school.

Thornton said she initially had the idea of raising money for Amman Imman after attending a Montessori conference in Florida. After speaking with a parent about making soap, she pitched the plan to students.

The teens have been willing to share the process with the charity. That's a big concession for them, Thornton said, because they've worked so hard.

The students meet once a week to create various scented soaps using ingredients such as olive, soybean and coconut oils, as well as lemon and orange peel "for exfoliation."

They don't use animal fats and lard in making the soap. Lavender, orange and mint are a few of the oils they add to give soaps their scent.

The class has to sell 500 bars at $5 apiece to help fund the trip. The young entrepreneurs don't seem to mind the pressure of raising money for two causes at once.

"I think we're really going to help these people," said Katrina Buccella, 13.

Their contribution to Amman Imman will go toward the construction of water wells in the Republic of Niger. People there, some of the poorest in the world, are suffering from a lack of clean water sources.

"[For] the people in Niger, there's no permanent water source there," said Aaron Bobb, 12. "They are going to drill wells there so that's what the money is going for."

Along with raising money, students learn how to manage a business, something Thornton said is a practical skill for students to know.

"We're learning how to manage a business because we're running it," said Maddie Thornton, 12.

Want to purchase? To order products from The Petite Soap Co. go to littlesoap.com or e-mail little soapco@gmail.com. For details on the Amman Imman project, visit waterfor niger.org. A sample of Petite Scents Coffee Cake: a scrubbing soap with cinnamon, vanilla, cloves and ground coffee Marble Cupcake: smells like a cupcake but made with cinnamon, frankincense and myrrh Patty à la Menthe: looks like cheesecake with its organic cocoa and peppermint Cherry Pom Tea Tree: a blend of cherry, pomegranate green tea, along with tea tree oil Citrus Melody: made from orange oils, vanilla, and poppy seeds

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Date published: 12/10/2006