(NewsNation) — A Florida high school student turned a class assignment into a project that’s making a big impact for students in need.

Ella Jane Hoffmaster, a member of her school’s Student Government Association, was given the task of writing a paper about a random act of kindness she could do.

This reminded her of a little wooden box she saw once on vacation. It was similar to little free libraries, except instead of books, the box was filled with canned food items.

“I thought it’d be interesting to do that with hygiene products,” Hoffmaster said.

For her paper, Hoffmaster wrote about the idea, which was enthusiastically received by her Student Government Association sponsor, Pam Hicks.

The idea morphed into a shelf filled with free hygiene items, such as deodorant or shampoo, where students can take what they need, no questions asked.

Dubbed the “Kindness Corner,” the shelf has helped many students at Hoffmaster’s school, where about 60% of them live below the poverty line.

“We make sure kids have food, and we make sure they have school supplies, but to a teenager, the more important thing is their shampoo, their face wash and deodorant, right?'” Hicks said.

Community response to the Kindness Corner has been “really overwhelming,” Hoffmaster said.

“We’ve been so privileged to have our community be so supportive,” she said.

At one point, Hoffmaster started to get worried as funds for the shelf started to get low.

After writing about the Kindness Corner on Facebook, though, the community responded with monetary donations, and by contributing hygiene items for the shelf.

“We’ve had former graduates who are much older that I’ve never met that have stopped by the front office [to bring] items,” Hicks said.