COVID-19 didn't stop Chatham-Kent residents from going above and beyond for Tampon Tuesday.
The 2020 Tampon Tuesday event was organized Organized by Women United, an affiliate group of United Way of Chatham-Kent and the Chatham-Kent Labour Council. While typically accompanied by a social event, organized had to alter the event this year due to COVID-19 restrictions and opted to do a drive-thru style donation centre to collect feminine hygiene products for women in need.
Staff Support for Women United Margery Muharrem said despite the change, the community response was as strong as ever.
"We had cars from 9 [a.m.] right through until 25 [minutes] after 6 [p.m.]...I think we had about 150 vehicles come through altogether," she said. "Some folks were donating an individual box but there were many, many that were bringing in bags and bags of donations, which was incredible."
According to Muharrem, over 2,000 boxes of products were collected this year, compared to 1,500 boxes in 2019.
Muharrem said another positive thing to see was the wide variety of donations that were brought forward, including reusable products.
"In particular, some donors wanted us to focus on purchasing menstrual cups," said Muharrem. "We deliberately went out and those that did a cash donation, we had a couple of our volunteers go out with a staff member and shop for specifically menstrual cups. There was everything from incontinence pads, right through to liners, everything, it was amazing."
Now that everything is collected, volunteers have already begun to sort through the products and in the coming days will deliver them to approximately 15 different local organizations including food banks, church groups and shelters.