Corporate donations to the Shower Service

Every day over 100 people can wash themselves in the Opera San Francesco showers.

This important and basic service is not only guaranteed by the work of volunteers but also by the generosity of private citizens and businesses whose money or material donations enable OSF to purchase everything it needs and to cover part of the cost of managing the structure.

Everyone that accesses the service and wishes to take a shower receives a kit

The kit includes:

a cotton towel to dry themselves after their shower
new ankle socks, which change according to the season and are therefore warmer in the winter, in cotton during the summer and no-show in the hottest months
white cotton underpants
white or coloured t-shirt
a sweatshirt in colder months or a long-sleeved shirt in warmer months

At the moment, the towels are provided by an OSF partner company while the underwear kit is purchased in its entirety by OSF, a significant expense if you consider that the service offers an average of 3000 showers a month (numbers fell to around 2000 showers a month in 2020 because of the Covid emergency). Any men’s underwear manufacturers that wish to donate these garments to Opera would help OSF meet one of its biggest needs.

Personal hygiene products

All personal hygiene products are also required because every guest receives:

a mini shower gel
a mini shampoo
a disposable razor
a toothbrush which is distributed once every 2 months
a 750 ml toothpaste distributed once a month
a pocket-size comb
paper tissues
candles if requested
deodorant if available

These personal hygiene products are currently entirely guaranteed by the donations of a company but, given its high number of guaranteed services, OSF always needs these types of materials in its warehouse.

The women’s Shower Service

The women’s Shower Service welcomes far fewer guests than the men’s service. Nevertheless, the many women that regularly use the service are also given the same kit of personal hygiene products and new underwear:

a bra
a pair of cotton briefs
short cotton socks
a white or coloured t-shirt
women’s shoes

OSF does not receive any donations for these garments either and has to purchase everything it needs. OSF therefore hopes that producers of female underwear help it to satisfy this need.