Written by Carol Ann Mendez
Something I wonder about on a daily basis is how can I help and serve? Is what I am doing enough? I have been given so much, how can I give back? One morning I caught a glimpse of an article on the Huffington Post website about Dana Marlowe and how she started a non-profit called I Support the Girls and how she was collecting bras and feminine hygiene products for those in need. It was moving to read about how one person could make such a huge difference.
I sent a message to Dana and asked her if she would happen to have a I Support the Girls location in Massachusetts. She didn’t, but encouraged me to start my own drive and donate to a local homeless shelter. I live in Arlington, a wonderful community just outside of Boston. There are several community pages on Facebook to which I belong. I posted that I had read about I Support the Girls and wanted to start my own drive, collecting bras and feminine hygiene products. I received a lot of eager responses.
Many in the community had bras that they were not wearing but were in wonderful condition. Others had feminine hygiene products that were no longer needed. I started the drive at the end of November and continued it through the end of January. At the end of it, I collected 230 bras, 1,000 individual tampons and 1,000 individual pads. When I brought the donation to the shelter, the program coordinator there was all smiles. She expressed gratitude and went on to explain that all the items would be appreciated. She talked about how many come to the shelter without much clothing or money and donations like this help immensely.
The whole process was easy. I put a plastic bin on my front steps where donations could be left at the donor’s convenience. I posted the initial requests for donations on Facebook, sent a bi-weekly reminder with updates to the original post and the donations came in almost daily. I stored all of the items in my basement. At the end of the drive, I washed all of the used bras, sorted them by size and put them in bags ready to deliver to the shelter. I am grateful that I could help in this way and am eager to do it again. Thank you Dana, your hard work and efforts are an inspiration.
