LOCAL NONPROFITS
The San Marcos nonprofit that ensures local school children get to live with dignity by providing hygiene supplies to those in need is expanding its footprint.
“When students have what they need, it boosts confidence, improves attendance and allows them to focus on learning instead of worrying about basic necessities,” The Feeling Fresh Project founder Paige Biersdorfer said.
The Feeling Fresh Project now has a supply closet in five different San Marcos CISD schools.
“We began with Mendez Elementary and then added Bonham PreK after our initial success,” Biersdorfer said. “From there, we expanded to a middle school campus, bringing us to three schools in our first year. In 2026, thanks to strong community support and increased resources, we added Bowie and DeZavala Elementary.” Those community partnerships have been fostered through relationships with school counselors, CISD staff and parent and parent liaisons.
“We focus on listening to each campus’s specific needs and working alongside them to ensure the closets are both useful and easy to maintain,” Biersdorfer said. “It’s truly been a collaborative effort rooted in trust and communication.”
Bridget Jones, a counselor at Bowie Elementary, said the school is grateful for the much-needed supplies.
“The addition of hygiene items from The Feeling Fresh Project will help our students come to school feeling confident, cared for, and ready to build a brighter future for themselves and our community,” Jones said.
Cassandra Jackson, Communities in Schools Representative at DeZavala Elementary, said the program allows students and families to focus on being successful rather than meeting their basic needs.
“If people are worried about how to buy hygiene products, they have less capacity to focus on family, education and/or work and they have less financial ability to provide food, clothing and/ or shelter for their families,” Jackson said. “In my experience, every little bit helps when living paycheck to paycheck or day to day. On our first day we provided 27 items to families in need. That was before we even had our closet fully set up or organized, so I can only imagine how helpful this will be as we continue.“ The Feeling Fresh Project was started by Biersdorfer — initially as a one-time donation drive. In the 2024-2025 school year, her daughter’s teacher had an Amazon wish list of supplies for some of the students, and she was struck by the amount of hygiene items included on the list.
“That made me curious,” Biersdorfer said. “Normally it’s snacks or school supplies. After asking a few questions, I learned that the teachers are seeing more and more students in need of hygiene supplies. The teachers were trying to purchase some of the items on their own, but the need had grown.”
After the success of the first hygiene drive, Biersdorfer began researching the issue and discovered that it spans the globe. She couldn’t stop thinking about it, so what was meant to be a one-time project has now grown to five supply closets at five different SMCISD schools.
“I just dove head first,” Biersdorfer said. “I reached out to an organization in Frisco, Refresh NTX. They let me tour their facility and have always been an amazing support system. And from there the pieces just kept falling in place.”
Looking forward, Biersdorfer is excited for the nonprofit to expand its impact even further by offering relief and dignity for families and a consistent, reliable resource for schools.
“With quarterly restocks planned throughout the school year, we are building a sustainable and impactful program,” she said. “Six campuses remain, including the high school, which will be an exciting challenge ahead. None of this growth would be possible without the incredible support of our community.”
