Lennie Gallant concert to raise money for Mikinduri Children
Richard Woodbury | CBC News | Posted: November 13, 2016 12:00 PM | Last Updated: November 13, 2016
P.E.I. group has been helping people of Mikinduri, Kenya, for more than a decade
A Lennie Gallant concert in Charlottetown will serve as the backdrop for a fundraiser to provide reusable feminine-hygiene kits to girls in a village in Kenya who would otherwise miss time at school due to their menstrual periods.
The concert is a collaboration with the Mikinduri Children of Hope Foundation, a P.E.I. group that has been helping the people of Mikinduri, Kenya, for more than a decade.
"We're raising money to produce sanitary kits that are reusable to take to Kenya to give to females there who have no access to sanitary supplies or no money to buy them," said the group's Gaylene Smith on CBC's Mainstreet P.E.I.
The concert will be held Thursday night at the Florence Simmons Performance Hall in Charlottetown and tickets are $30.
Kit composition
The money raised from the concert will go toward producing the kits, which follow a model used by an international non-profit group called Days for Girls.
The kits include supplies such as eight absorbent tri-fold flannel pads, a face cloth, a bar of soap, two pairs of panties and a ziploc bag that can be used to carry soiled items and launder them. The kits are designed to last three years.
The kits are being put together in P.E.I. by people with different sewing groups who are volunteering their time.
Lennie Gallant said he was happy to get involved with the initiative and holds the Mikinduri Children of Hope Foundation in high regard.
"They've ... started schools, all kinds of education programs, health clinics, programs to help kids get a leg up in the world in so many different ways, clean water, medical and it's not just a one-off. It's an ongoing process," Gallant told CBC's Mainstreet P.E.I.
The concert will feature Gallant and his Searching for Abegweit band, as well as special guests such as Catherine MacLellan and Dennis Ellsworth.
This YouTube video from Days for Girls explains the origins of the kits and how they work.