*Photo courtesy of Evan Cantwell

Senior forward on the George Mason women's basketball team, Joyous Tharrington was inspired by a women and gender studies course she enrolled in last fall to take part in a season-long toiletry drive. When Tharrington learned from her professor such things like personal care items were something victims could use in shelters, she enlisted the help of her teammates and over the course of the season collected toiletries from various hotels that were not used to donate to a local shelter.  The idea quickly spread and hundreds of bottles of shampoo, conditioner, lotion, etc. were collected with the help of teammates and coaches.

In April, Tharrington donated all the toiletries collected to the Artemis House, an emergency shelter for families and individuals fleeing domestic and sexual violence and human trafficking. The shelter is located in Fairfax County, Va. and provides crisis intervention and temporary housing.