Clean the World helped celebrate Global Handwashing Day (Oct. 15) with more than 100 volunteers from the University of Central Florida recycling soap at Clean the World’s facility in downtown Orlando.

The volunteers, part of VolunteerUCF, helped surface-clean hotel soaps as step one in the recycling process, which will ultimately lead to soaps being distributed to local homeless shelters, women’s shelters, missions and individual families in need throughout Central Florida.

The volunteers set a goal for themselves – 10,000 bars of soap in two hours – and they blew it away with passion, tremendous effort and fun.

A total of 15,300 bars of soap were recycled by the end of their volunteer service, enough to provide more than 1,500 children with soap for an entire month. And the experience was rewarding for all involved. Here are some quotes from the volunteers:

– “This is exactly what students need – a chance to grow through community involvement,” says Michael Gibson. “You just have to have the right motivation.”

– “What a great way to spend a Saturday,” says Patricia Hall. “Helping other people.”

– “I really enjoy feeling like I made an impact,” says Aupala Huq.

– “I enjoyed learning about the cause and process,” says Vishan Samaroo.

– “On behalf of the Black Alumni Chapter of the UCF Alumni Association, it was a great privilege working with such an extraordinary organization,” says Lawrence Gardenhire. “Glad we were able to help. Godspeed.”

– “I had a very fun experience cleaning soap and helping a good cause,” says Teneshia Huggins. “I learned something new today, and I’m glad I came.”

Global Handwashing Day support was also received from two key Clean the World partners – PeopleTowels and American Cleaning Institute (ACI). The volunteers all received PeopleTowels, eco-friendly and reusable towels that help promote personal hygiene and prevent landfill waste, and educational materials from ACI were provided to help spread the message about the importance of personal hygiene.