Two Johnston siblings are helping strangers put bandages on life’s bumps and scrapes — acts of PureKindness, the name of the foundation they started and run from their home.
Millie and Krish Sethi make homemade first aid kits to donate to organizations across the Des Moines metro and Iowa that serve families in need, refugees and people who are homeless.
Since starting the organization last year, the siblings have donated more than 1,100 first aid kits as of early June.
Why first aid kits?
Millie, 17, said she and her brother, Krish, 12, saw a lot of underserved communities did not have access to basic medical care.
“Both of us have a passion for medicine,” Millie said of their interest in medical school, so they settled on working to provide first aid kits — something small but that can have a big impact.
Krish recalled a time when a mother at a shelter “felt happy and proud of herself” for being able to take care of her children’s small injuries, thanks to receiving one of their first aid kits.
They assemble the kits in their spare time and sometimes invite friends over to help.
“I’ll feel proud because I helped many people in a way that not many people do,” Krish said.
What goes into the PureKindness first aid kits?
The kits include gauze, bandages, a thermometer, tweezers, an ice pack, alcohol wipes, scissors, tape, burn ointments, antibiotics and over-the-counter painkillers.
Millie said they ask organizations what they need, and then the siblings or sometimes their mom and dad — Ramandeep Kaur and Amit Sethi — drive to Minnesota where they receive supplies from MATTER, a global health nonprofit.
The Sethi siblings have provided kits to organizations including Johnston Partnership; Central Iowa Shelter and Services, Lutheran Services in Iowa and several other refugee support organizations in Des Moines; West Des Moines Human Services; IC Compassion and Open Heartland in Iowa City; Coralville Community Food Pantry; and Child, Adolescent and Parent Support in Marshalltown.
How to help
More information about the PureKindness Foundation and how to support it is available on Facebook at facebook.com/purekindnessfoundation and Instagram at instagram.com/purekindnessfoundation/.
Monetary donations can be given through Venmo, @Purekindness-Foundation. PureKidness also has an Amazon wish list of first aid supplies at amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1DN3HS0HNQYNG?ref_=wl_share.
Phillip Sitter covers the suburbs for the Des Moines Register. Phillip can be reached via email at psitter@gannett.com. Find out more about him online in the Register’s staff directory.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Johnston siblings make free first aid kits to people in need through their foundation
Reporting by Phillip Sitter, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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