Written by: Nafisa Atiah
Although menstruation is something billions of people go through every month, it is still prone to stigma in nearly every culture to some degree. As a result, women and girls face challenges when it comes to accessibility of menstrual hygiene products and ways to manage their period. They miss school and work as they are forced to stay at home, often having no choice but to use unsanitary materials during this time. Feelings of shame about their bodies while facing segregation from daily activities and society due to harmful taboos, can be detrimental to a girl’s sense of worth.
Plan International is working towards menstrual hygiene management by educating communities - from health workers to teachers - on how to teach young people about menstruation in a stigma-free and informative way. They are also distributing menstrual hygiene products in schools.
In our local community of Edmonton, Canada, we recognized how the lack of access to menstrual hygiene products for women and girls in the lower-income bracket is something we can help raise awareness and funds for. We decided to donate all proceeds of a fundraiser towards buying products such as pads, tampons, and some diapers that would go to Boyle Street Community Services. They run a collection of over 40 services and programs that serve over 12 000 people every year - everything from running a community centre to serve those in extreme poverty, to an inner city youth housing project, to legal support provided by University of Alberta law students.
Find out more about them at the link below:
The fundraiser we chose was the Krispy Kreme donut fundraising service, through which we were able to sell out an entire shipment of donut boxes. Combined with sponsorships from local grocery stores - Safeway and - we had a grand total of $2119.50!
Krispy Kreme donut shipment has arrived!
This photo was taken in ECHA during our
pre-sale pick up date - February 14th, 2020.
We would like to give a big thank you to our sponsors, Safeway, Sobeys, and Krispy Kreme, for supporting our menstrual hygiene drive. Of course, a huge thank you to our team of executive members and volunteers who were able to sell out every single box - from collecting orders to delivering all the boxes, this would not have been possible without your hard work. We would also like to thank everyone who was able to buy a box or simply donate to our cause. Thanks to all of you, we were able to supply a significant amount of menstrual hygiene products to girls and women in our local community.
This past Wednesday, February 19, our team was able to deliver the products to Boyle Street Community Services. They were very welcoming and gave us a tour of their facilities.
Thanks to the support from our community our team donated:
10,552 pads
1,102 tampons
450 diapers
Champions of Change, University of Alberta, at Boyle Street Community Services.
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