Grade 8 students deliver feminine hygiene products to Indigenous women in northern Ontario
The Pink Project, developed by 4 students, creates care boxes to support under-served communities
It's the last week of school before summer break for many students, but a group of Grade 8 girls at Park Dale School in Belleville, Ont., are still hard at work finishing a very important project.
As part of a class assignment, the four students developed The Pink Project: Women Supporting Women. The intent was to help get feminine hygiene products to under-served Indigenous communities in the North.
But these girls didn't just do their homework, they actually created a non-profit charity organization.
Jessica Downer, 13, is one of the co-founders of the group responsible for creating the care boxes.
"So basically it's just like tampons and pads, wipes, panty liners, razors, deodorant, hair brush, shampoo," she explains.
The effort was spawned from an assignment that asked the students to prepare a pitch inspired by the popular TV show Dragon's Den.
As part of their project, the girls researched statistics about how many women go without personal hygiene items and how it has impacted their lives.
"One of the things that was so special about this project was the students came to me and asked if it would be okay to do a non-profit, to do something that they wanted to give back," explained their teacher, David Fry.
"As a teacher, I thought, 'For 13 year olds? That was amazing.'"
They then reached out to home care giant Proctor & Gamble and convinced the corporation to donate 100 items for the packages. They also contacted Moon Sisters, a local charity that supports Indigenous communities in the North. The organization agreed to help the students with distribution.
With support from teachers and community business leaders, 100 care boxes are scheduled to be shipped to northern Ontario.
The students also plan to bead bracelets that will be sold to generate funds to buy more products and keep the care box project going.
"I'm very proud of them, they're wonderful young people and I'm very proud to be their teacher," explained Fry, who says this is the first time in five years of assigning this project that one has actualized.
Downer says The Pink Project has created quite a buzz throughout the school right before they head off to high school.
"I am really going to miss them being here at Park Dale. The kids in my class and the kids in the school are just so supportive of this and are so proud that it's come from Park Dale ... it's really exciting."