When Gabi Green ’25 began Soaps for a Purpose, she wanted to make 15,000 bars of heart-shaped, handcrafted soap to distribute to healthcare workers and people in need. While the soaps are relatively easy to make, 15,000 is a big number. She needed more hands.

She found them.

On August 27, Gabi organized a Zoom hangout to familiarize other students with Soaps for a Purpose and instruct them on how to make the soaps. Many were already familiar with the organization, thanks to social media.

“I downloaded Instagram, and all my friends were following Soaps for a Purpose,” Lucie Fellowes ’25 says. “So I was like, ‘Oh, what’s this?’ Then I followed her on Instagram and heard about what she was doing and wanted to help.”

Megan Chopra ’25 also became aware of the program on Instagram, but she wasn’t very involved at first. “Then I started to see articles and more on Instagram,” she says. “And when I was invited to do this, I was excited to join.”

The Zoom hangout started with an introduction to Gabi’s organization, what it was and how she started it, that included a video about her years of service work. “Then she started to teach us how to make the soaps,” Megan says. And when the students put their soaps in the freezer to set, Gabi taught them how to make the handwritten cards that come with each bag of soap. Finally, says Megan, “she explained to us how to cut the soap and how to put it in the bags.”

“I’m actually very bad at anything crafty,” Lucie says. “But this was really easy and fun. It was nice to help Gabi and help people who don’t have soap—and it was nice to have something to do, to focus on something other than the pandemic.”

“It’s great that Gabi is donating soaps to healthcare workers and the homeless and helping prevent the spread of the virus,” Megan says. It is especially nice, she adds, that Gabi makes everything personalized and with love—and that she invited her friends and followers to pitch in. “It was really great that she included everyone so everyone got to help,” Megan says. “It felt good to do something fun while also helping people and feel like you’re making a difference.”

As usual, those who were giving also received—this time, their compensation came via Zoom.

After months apart, Lucie says, “it was nice to see my friends on Zoom.”

Megan agrees. “It was great to see my classmates’ faces and meet some new people,” she says. “And it’s great that we all came together to help Gabi."