YOU SHOULD PROBABLY READ THIS
My kitchen, for the most part, normally has a good stock of food (or at least the ingredients required to bake chocolate chip cookies at a moment’s notice).
My bathroom cabinets, too, are almost always stuffed full. The cupboards overflow with a seeming abundance of shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, tampons, condoms, toilet paper, toothpaste (and a toothbrush!), razor blades, soap, lotion, lip balm and anything else you can think of. And if I run out, Shopper’s Drug Mart is half a block away, so refilling the supply is never a problem.
For some women, however, acquiring even one or two of these items is next to impossible.
Photo: dtes.people on Flickr
The items I listed above are just a fraction of what’s needed, and unfortunately, the resources for the women of Vancouver’s downtown eastside are next to none. The clean socks and finely bristled hairbrushes we all take for granted are a luxury to some women.
This is where you come in. Last week, on another dreary and rainy day in Vancouver, Phaedra and I came up with an idea that will, hopefully, give many of these women the opportunity to take in a few of the items needed on a daily - and monthly - basis. Most of us are fortunate to have jobs, pay the bills and supply ourselves with what we need, so banded together, it’s not an impossibilty to put together “care kits” and distribute them accordingly.
Becky has been awesome enough to start a Wiki page (Women Helping Women) in this regard where we can trade ideas, generate fundraising avenues and contribute. Visit Women Helping Women, join up and start the discussion. Our hope is to meet sometime within the next week or two to put our heads together. If you have ideas, funds or items to contribute, leave a message, e-mail me (keira at keira-anne dot com) or pop a note on the Wiki page.
P.S. Just because you may be a dude, it doesn’t exempt you. Be a gentleman and offer a helping hand.
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7 Comments
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This is such a fantastic idea, ladies…you know I’ll help in whatever way I can!
I will also help in any way I can…at least a donation!
when I traveled with a large group of government employees, there was a lady with us one time who told us that she threw her hotel soaps and shampoos in her suitcase everyday. as you know. housekeeping replaces them everyday. we thought that was a great idea and sent her home after two weeks (the length of our audits) with a suitcase full of the stuff.
pass that along on the website and maybe some Vancouver women who travel on business (and trust me, a lot do) can bring those items back to be collected and distributed. Becky can even tell the out of town attendees of the conferences she attends here to bring them in too.
and of course you can call on me and if I can provide, I always will
I FORGOT to mention that my friend took the soaps and shampoos to her local women’s shelter
Great idea, and yeah, I’ll help in any way I can.
Great idea Dan.
If you get any cash donations, an idea would be to buy grocery cards to give out. We have them to give out at work, $25 each for Independent Grocers. They come in handy and are used for a good purpose.
I am completely interested in helping out any way I can!
It is really the little things that we do that make an immense difference in lives of the less fortunate.
Whenever my family and I go on vacation in say the Domincan, Cuba or Mexico, we always stuff our suitcases full of goodies to bring the employees that work at resorts, cleaning our rooms. All the simple hygenic neccessities as well as tampons (which are total luxury there!! And too expensive for most), and even a few treats for their children (candy, or a cute little stuffed animal) are things we always pack with us.
I did some volunterring way back at the woman’s shelter in the LES and would love to get back into it (a very busy schedule put a halt to that for a while:0( ..
I iwll be sure to check out the site and join. Thank you for putting that out there Keira-!!! I will definately contribute and help you ladies brainstorm!!
Lyndsey