[j801642]

Hi all,

Team 128, The Botcats, are excited for the 2016 Greater Pittsburgh Regional Competition and would like your help with a project. This past winter The Botcats traveled to our local YWCA, which houses community members who have fallen down on their luck, and are temporarily homeless. The YWCA offers a 30 day safe haven for those accepted, and the rules are incredibly strict while living there. The options for entertainment are slim, and the children often have trouble finding things to do. We took our Regional Winning 2013 robot as well as a ton of fun activities, and gave the children/parents a fun day. While we were there, we noticed that there were several requests for donations of assorted toiletries such as soap and shampoo. A team member had the idea to collect all of the toiletries given to us by the hotel during The Greater Pittsburgh Regional. But then we thought, why stop there? So here is our request: If you are attending The Greater Pittsburgh Regional, please save all toiletries that are given by the hotel you're staying with, and donate them to our cause. We will have the donations open and easily visible in our Pit. To increase awareness, we ask that you spread the word of this Toiletry Drive. Thanks so much, and we are excited to see how well this plan can be executed!

See you in Pittsburgh!
Jay H.
Team 128 Student Coach