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Victorians asked to help fill a bus with menstrual products for women in need

United Way Greater Victoria hosts annual product drive March 2
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The menstrual products can be dropped off at Hillside Centre (NE parking lot at the corner of Shelbourne and North Dairy) on Saturday, March 2 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. (File photo)

Nobody should have to choose between feeding their family and accessing hygiene products, but some women in Victoria are forced to do just that.

The United Way Greater Victoria (UWGV) aims to change that reality by hosting an annual menstrual product drive for women and youth in need.

The goal is to fill a BC Transit bus with product and beat last year’s inaugural haul of 30,000 individual items – pads, tampons and diva cups.

“Periods are a fact of life and we don’t talk about it much. Access to products can be a real challenge for some,” said Jennifer Young, director of marketing and communications, United Way Greater Victoria. “The movement to collect menstrual products for those in need has been growing across Canada for 10 years. We jumped on board last year and filled 1/4 of a bus. This year we hope to fill a whole bus.”

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UWGV invites Victoria residents to help fill the bus with unopened boxes of tampons, pads and other menstrual hygiene product.

The products can be dropped off at Hillside Centre (NE parking lot at the corner of Shelbourne and North Dairy) on Saturday, March 2 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Products collected will be distributed to United Way-funded agencies the following week in the lead up to International Women’s Day.

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The event is a collaboration between the United Way Greater Victoria Labour Committee, BC Transit, Hillside Centre, the Victoria Labour Council and United Way Greater Victoria.

In 2015, the NDP passed a motion to eliminate taxing menstrual products which took effect July 1 of that year. Previous to that, the government considered tampons and pads to be a “non-essential” or “luxury” item.


 
keri.coles@blackpress.ca

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