Teenagers and social media often get a bad rap but one Vancouver teen has harnessed the power of the apps that create our online personas and put it to good use.
Breanna Rama, 17, is the head volunteer for Her Drive: Vancouver. Her Drive is a Chicago-based nonprofit organization that provides bras, menstrual care, and general hygiene products to people in need in an effort to combat period and hygiene poverty. Last January, Rama’s team collected a whopping 18,000 of these donations and she’s planning to do it again.
Vancouver Is Awesome caught up with Rama while her team of six of her friends was busy painting donation boxes for the drive’s second iteration taking place this month. Having always been drawn to social issues, especially women’s rights and reproductive rights, Rama says when the opportunity to lead a donation campaign for Her Drive came up she was instantly on board.
"As someone who menstruates, I think this is an issue that I feel particularly close to. Because it’s hard having a period so imagine how much harder it is for someone who's living on the streets and doesn’t have access to these necessary products," Rama said.
Donations of bras, menstrual care, and general hygiene products the campaign receives will go to the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre.
Rama attributes the donation drive’s previous success to the sharing of social media posts by friends and family but was surprised to see just how unified the response was.
“I really admired how the community got together the last time especially the appeal that it brought to my male classmates," Rama said. "I think in order to bring awareness to this issue we have to get guys involved as well."
Here is a complete list of donations Rama and her team are looking for:
- New and/or lightly used bras
- Menstrual Pads
- Pantyliners
- Tampons
- Travel-size toiletries
- Unused makeup/vanity items
- Sunscreen
- Socks
- Dental care
- Baby wipes/diapers
- Reusable cloth masks
- Deodorant
- Body wash/perfume
- Bar soap/shampoo/conditioner/lotion
To make a donation all one needs to do is fill out a form letting Rama’s team know when you prefer to have your donations picked up or where you will drop them off. There are four drop-off locations located in Vancouver.
