It's something most of us take for granted.

"Many people have to make a choice: food, gas, these products" Mower County Red Cross Director Elaine Hansen told a group of students from the Southland school district.

The students turned it into a competition, and the real winners were the people who use the care shelf at the Mower County Red Cross.

"We brought in over 200 items in our home-room" said Southland student Drew Lewison. "The winning class got to get a home-room party".

On Tuesday, the Southland kids carried box after box into the Red Cross to replenish the personal care shelf:

178 toothbrushes

51 tubes of toothpaste

35 bottles of shampoo

43 containers of deodorant

38 disposable razors

35 hair brushes

22 rolls of toilet paper

26 bottles of conditioner

14 boxes of Kleenex

... and more -- nearly 600 items in all.

The Conserve & Save program, serving Austin Utilities, Owatonna Public Utilities and Rochester Public Utilities, is back for a second year. The program allows people looking for new refrigerators and/or freezers to turn in operating but energy inefficient units for a $35 incentive. The incentive is good for each qualifying appliance, with a maximum of two units per program life.

This is the 2nd year for the program, which generated an incredible response in 2011. The 2012 program starts today, May 15th, and runs through October 31, 2012 or until funds are exhausted.

In order to qualify, the refrigerator or freezer must be 10-30 cubic feet, operating secondary unit, in working order and owned by an RPU customer. The appliance will also be picked up, free of charge, inside the customer's home from the address listed on their billing account.

You can get more information by calling 1-877-341-2259 or at www.rpu.org

Take a look at this jackknifed semi caught on our tower cam just before 11 p.m. last night.

It appears the driver was attempting to turn into the B-P truck stop just off of I-90 in Austin.