You may notice new karma boxes over by the senior center and at the YCAC (Youth Community Activity Center) that were recently put in by Mineral County resident Debbie Hackford on August 18. Since the karma boxes were installed, Hackford says that the response from the community since she put it on Facebook has been quite positive.
“I’ve always had a concerned heart for those in need, but I was inspired to bring this project to Hawthorne by my granddaughter, Madison Ellison,” Hackford submitted to the Independent-News. She explains that Ellison and her scholar government at the Honors Academy of Literature in downtown Reno placed and maintained a Karma Box near her school. She went to the academy with the son of The Karma Box Project founder Grant Denton, and it inspired Hackford to bring the Project to Hawthorne.
“I thought it was a wonderful idea and when I came to this town, I thought it would work well here,” Hackford says. Then last December Grant Denton brought a few of the boxes to Hackford, asking if she could store them. The Mineral County School District and high school teacher Mike Domagala allowed her to keep them in its woodshop, and the students built shelves in the boxes and repainted them. Meanwhile, Hackford brainstormed with the Coalition of Mineral County about where they could be placed, and got it approved by the county commissioners to install them next to the youth and senior centers.
Part of her purpose of installing the karma boxes was also to help honor her two late brothers, who suffered from drug addiction.
“I gave them money, I prayed for them, but there’s only so much you can do. This is just a little bit of what we can do to help people in need,” she explains.
The karma boxes have useful items that are geared towards seniors and kids, such as non-perishable soups, cup of noodles, canned chicken, chili, water, soap, sunscreen, and granola bars, and can be refilled with warm clothing, toiletries, and other items depending on the season.
“If you drive by a karma box and it’s empty, and you have the time to go to the Dollar Store to fill it with a cup of noodles or soap or water then that would be great,” Hackford says. She personally keeps a case of bottled water in her car and other items just in case she comes across a karma box that could use a little love.
“People are so happy that this has been done. It’s touched my heart that so many people responded, and I hope that people are able to keep an eye on it,” she adds.
“My goal is to keep this going and help people in need. The motto of The Karma Box Project is ‘If it’s empty, fill It. If you need it, it’s yours.’ It will take our community of those who can give to help keep the boxes full of useful items.”
For more information about the Karma Box Project and where karma boxes are located in Northern Nevada, visit https://www.karmaboxproject.org/.
