Periods. They’re a fact of life for women, but for women living in poverty Aunt Flo’s arrival can be a financial burden they can’t afford.
Burnaby-based United Way of the Lower Mainland recognized International Women’s Day last week by collecting an estimated 1,000 boxes of pads, tampons and other feminine hygiene products for women in need living the region.
The idea came from the charitable group’s labour participation department, which partnered with unions to collect menstruation products for United Way-funded agencies to be distributed to women living in poverty.
The initiative, dubbed Tampon Tuesday, was the first one held in British Columbia, according to Jennifer Young, assistant director, communications and public relations for the United Way of the Lower Mainland.
“It was fantastic,” Young said. “We collected a lobby full of pads and tampons and other products as well.”
The idea started in Ontario, but the Lower Mainland United Way jumped at the chance to host its own Tampon Tuesday, Young said.
“It really illustrates just one expense that low-income women have got to juggle on a monthly basis,” she said. “Both United Way and the labour department are both advocates for a poverty reduction plan, so this is just one way to kind of bring awareness to a real concrete detail of only one struggle that women in need face.”
Young expected the donations to be sent to recipient agencies, which included the YWCA, Big Sisters, and several neighbourhood houses, sometime this week.
