Donation drive underway to send period products to B.C.’s remote Northern communities
Posted October 15, 2021 9:37 pm.
Last Updated October 15, 2021 9:45 pm.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — A B.C.-based non-profit is holding a donation drive this month, collecting period products around Metro Vancouver to ship to remote, Northern communities where pads and tampons are prohibitively expensive.
Moon Time Sisters BC launched in 2020, and has since shipped 30,000 menstrual products, both disposable and reusable, to 12 different communities. It’s an initiative modelled after the Saskatchewan chapter, which was started in 2017 by Nicole Racette White, a Métis woman, after she read a story about young women missing school because they lacked menstrual products
All through October, contributions are being accepted online and at drop-off boxes in cities throughout the Lower Mainland.
“It’s really kicking off,” says co-founder Carly Pistawka.
Around Metro Vancouver, the average 36-pack of pads or tampons costs less than $10, according to Pistawka.
“I have bought a lot of products so I’ve definitely found the average price. In some of the communities, we’re dealing with it’s $19 or $20 bucks for the exact same box or bag of products, and they never go on sale,” she says.
“A lot of people don’t realize that menstrual inequity is really a problem in Canada. Across the entirety of northern Canada, everything’s expensive but something that should be a basic right is extremely expensive. People are having to miss school or work or use makeshift products — when that really shouldn’t be the case.”
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Pistawka says they communicate constantly with the people or organizations they’re helping out.
“We only send products that are actually wanted by the communities. So, we’re not sending crappy products or ones that a community would just leave on the shelf and not necessarily want to access,” she explains.
“That’s one of the big things that makes us different is that we’re sending specifically to the remote communities in Northern B.C., and also the fact that we are sending products that are specifically asked for.”
RELATED: B.C. public schools required to offer free menstrual products by end of year
It’s a small, grassroots, collective effort. Monetary donations pay the shipping costs, and products are packed up by a small team of volunteers along with friends and family.
Carly Pistawka with donated menstrual products. (Courtesy truenorthaid.ca/mts-bc)
But beyond the donations, Pistawka says their campaign is a way to raise awareness.
“Menstrual health is not something that’s very much talked about,” she says.
“It’s a good way to get a conversation started, to get some people to buy products and to talk about menstrual and equity, which is amazing.”
More information on how and where to donate is available on the Moon Time Sisters BC webpage.
