'This is a basic human need': new campaign collecting tampons, pads for vulnerable women in Vancouver
Campaign organizer Mary Wilson says initiative has already seen positive results
A new initiative in Vancouver is collecting tampons, pads, wipes and purses for women on the Downtown Eastside.
The Purses for Periods campaign will be collecting the items in five locations from April 1 to 28 and donating them to the WISH drop-in Centre.
Campaign organizer Mary Wilson said low-income women often have to choose between paying for rent or food and buying feminine hygiene products.
"You can imagine that if you're living in a situation that is very vulnerable, those choices happen every day," Wilson said.
Wilson was inspired by a similar campaign in Toronto, she said, and decided to start one in Vancouver. She said she's had an "amazing response" so far and says people are jumping at the chance to chip in.
"People seem to be embracing it and I think it opens up a larger conversation around women and the natural things that we go through," she said.
"This is a basic human need, it's not something we can negotiate as a woman. It's something we have to have."
The donated products can include open boxes of individually-wrapped items.
The drop-off locations are:
- Roundhouse Community Centre.
- Creekside Community Centre.
- Strathcona Community Centre.
- Réseau-femmes Colombie Britannique.
- Le Centre Culturel Francophone.