Care in a bag: How PA, DO and pharmacy students partnered to show care comes in many ways
Sometimes, it starts with a toothbrush. A pair of socks. A thermometer. A package
of bandages. Simple items can be profound for people experiencing homelessness and
living on the street. These everyday essentials became the foundation for students
from UNT Health Fort Worth's Physician Assistant Studies program in the Texas College
of Osteopathic Medicine to launch a student-led effort to support the unhoused in
Fort Worth and beyond.
The initiative, Care Packages for a Cause, was started earlier this year by PA second-year
student Abi Kumar, through the Physician Assistant Student Association, and grew into
a collaboration between osteopathic medical, pharmacy and physical therapy students
Kumar got the idea after attending a friend's birthday party where they were encouraged
to bring items for care packages, instead of gifts. After the inspiration, the care-package
drive in January 2026 grew into a yearlong service project that has raised more than
$600 and produced 300 care packages for local communities.
“I thought that would be an easy way,” Kumar said of bringing the idea to the university.
“You learn so much about socioeconomic disadvantages.”
The first drive began with fundraising and collecting donations in March, followed
by an assembly event in April. PA students were joined by a handful of osteopathic
medical students, who gathered in the Interdisciplinary Research & Education Building
to assemble the packages. The second drive, held Sept. 14, expanded the collaboration
to include PA, osteopathic students, and pharmacy students, with physical therapy
students also helping collect and deliver donated items.
The assembly process itself was designed as a team effort.
Students worked in an assembly-line format, with different groups responsible for
different portions of each package. One group assembled first-aid kits containing
items such as bandages, a thermometer, sunscreen, ointment, alcohol wipes and feminine
hygiene products. Another assembled toiletry kits with toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap,
shampoo, body wipes, shower caps, face towels and combs. A final group prepared the
drawstring bags with an emergency blanket, socks, the first-aid kit, toiletry kit
and a card before closing the bag.
“Making that assembly line made it so easy,” Kumar said.
But the project quickly became more than the contents of the bags.
Kumar said one of the most meaningful additions was a small card with a personal message
and information intended to help recipients find resources. The students wanted each
package to communicate something beyond practical assistance: someone cares about
you.
That message became especially clear when Kumar began personally handing out some
of the packages.
On one occasion, Kumar had about 15 bags in the car and encountered families in Fort
Worth who were living on the streets. Among the items was a disposable thermometer.
After receiving a bag, a mother approached Kumar and explained that when she took
her children for medical care, she was often asked what their temperature was. She
had never had a thermometer of her own.
“It was one of those things we take for granted that we have,” Kumar recalled.
For Kumar, the experience reinforced why health professions students need opportunities
to encounter people outside traditional clinical settings.
The project also opened the door for students from different programs to learn from
one another. During the second care-package event, Kumar found opportunities to explain
the PA profession to first-year TCOM students who had limited familiarity with what
PAs do.
“It was such a good learning opportunity,” Kumar said.
Students from different professions “walked away with a lot more knowledge about our
profession,” while the experience encouraged future collaboration.
The care package project has also connected Kumar to street medicine, where the need
for small, practical items can be immediate. Socks, waterproof bags, shower caps,
towels and other inexpensive necessities can carry enormous meaning for someone living
without stable housing.
Organizations including Hands of Hope and Presbyterian Night Shelter have delivered
the packages to Fort Worth communities, while Dallas Hope Charities has provided additional
bags to After8toEducate and Worthy Bags, with a focus on underserved youth.
Kumar hopes the project will continue after her role ends in December — perhaps becoming
an annual or even twice-yearly tradition.
For the students who participate, the experience offers a reminder that their education
is preparing them for more than a profession.
“We’re studying so much and thinking about the future,” Kumar said. “But we can still
have a future, past and present.
Kumar is quick to credit the success of the care package drive to helping hands across
the university, including Grace Van, PA Student Association outreach chair, who assisted
Kumar with planning and university-wide advertising.
“The collaborative efforts across individuals and schools created an environment of
people from all backgrounds, ready to work together towards the common cause of improving
access to healthcare and treating our community with kindness and dignity,” Kumar
said.
And sometimes, caring for the community means simply putting the right things in a bag — and making sure it reaches someone who needs it.