B.C. non-profit challenges period poverty with donation campaign
Physical and financial contributions for Period Promise are welcome throughout the month
United Way British Columbia's Period Promise campaign is asking for donations to help end period poverty. (Submitted)
A B.C. non-profit is running a campaign until May 31 to address period poverty in the province.
United Way British Columbia’s (UWBC) annual Period Promise campaign is about collecting financial and physical menstrual product donations, as well as advocating for workplaces, school districts, and post-secondary institutions to make free products available in washrooms for everyone who needs it.
Since last year’s campaign, Kim Winchell, UWBC’s provincial director of community impact and investment, says 26 per cent of people who menstruate in B.C. still struggle to get accessible, free period products and are affected by the high cost of living.
“We talked to folks who are making decisions between paying their rent on time and purchasing needed period products,” Winchell says. “Buying food, fruits and vegetables, [and] protein or paying for period products, or paying their electricity bill versus paying [for] period products.”
When people who have periods do not have access to products, they miss school, work, social events, and health appointments because they have to stay home during menstruation, Winchell says.
UWBC’s goals are to secure over 500,000 products — like tampons and reusable and disposable pads — and have more than 70 workplaces running donation drives for the non-profit. They also hope to raise a minimum of $50,000, so B.C. non-profits in rural and remote communities can get grants of about $500 each to buy products themselves due to the higher costs of distributing to these places.
The Period Promise campaign accepts one-time or monthly financial donations and menstrual products brought to drop-off locations, which includes Lower Mainland sites in Surrey, Burnaby, and Abbotsford. People can also start their own product drive or fundraiser among family, friends, or coworkers.
“If you’re out grocery shopping and you pick up an extra box of tampons, you can just go to one of those distribution sites. If you’re attached to a workplace and you want to run a campaign there, we have a full toolkit that will help you do that,” Winchell says.
“If you want to donate monetarily, there’s also information on our webpage about that. So everything you need is on that one-stop shop webpage for how you can get involved. You could also sign up to be a volunteer, which means you would be utilized in driving product from one location to a non-profit who will distribute it to those in need.”
For those in need of free period products, they can use the website to browse the more than 250 non-profits UWBC works with across the province and reach out to them accordingly to access the items by late May and beyond.
The Period Promise campaign started in 2017 after unions came to UWBC saying many of their members or their friends and family in their community were struggling to purchase period products. It was then that United Way’s product drive came into play, as well as engaging their thousands of volunteers and advocating for accessible products in washrooms.
“I think one of the biggest things we can do is raise awareness that this issue exists. We know there’s food insecurity in our province, we know that people struggle to afford the high cost of rent, but we don’t talk about this particular issue enough,” Winchell says.
To learn more about Period Promise and how to donate, visit uwbc.ca/program/period-promise/.
