BBF Global Relief has donated more than 1,100 hygiene kits and 10,000 bottles of water to Light of Life Rescue Mission, a nonprofit organization that provides the essentials to Pittsburgh’s unhoused population.

Light of Life will distribute the supplies at homeless encampments and to people who receive the organization’s meal and long-term housing services. The supplies will also be stationed at Light of Life’s Free Store located in the organization’s Donation Center on Ridge Ave.

The hygiene kits, hand-assembled by BBF’s volunteers, include the everyday essentials someone may need but often doesn’t have access to while living on the streets. They include items such as wipes, shampoo, a toothbrush and toothpaste, and feminine hygiene products.

Founded in 1952, Light of Life Rescue Mission has become an essential resource for many people struggling with homelessness in the Pittsburgh area. The organization’s Donation Center provides clothing and hygiene items to roughly 600 people every week, but that number can reach as high as 1,000, according to Light of Life’s Donation Center Supervisor, Jon Ross. In 2023, Light of Life served over 500,000 meals through its food pantry and kitchen.

Ross says the need for Light of Life’s services increased following a July fire at Second Avenue Commons, a homeless shelter in Downtown Pittsburgh, that left nearly 200 people without beds to sleep in.

Leanne DeMaio, an associate at Light of Life’s Free Store, has a background in real estate. She says the rising housing market in Pennsylvania and across the United States “is pricing people out of homes.”

“There’s so few low-income housing opportunities out there, so that’s adding fuel to the fire,” she says.

The demand for services at many of Light of Life’s partner organizations has also increased.

“Across the board, we’re hearing that the food pantries are picking up big time. There’s people on waiting lists for beds, waiting lists for housing, waiting lists for furniture—it’s a lot,” DeMaio says.