- EmpowHERed is an NPO that was established by two young women during the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Some females are unable to attend school for three to five days of the month because they don't have sanitary pads to wear during their periods.
- Through the #PROJECTHOPE campaign for the month of May, they aim to deliver around 300 care packs when schools reopen.
Due to ever-increasing prices of sanitary pads, two women started an initiative in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic which entails the delivery of care packs to women and young girls in need.
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Danielle Crowie, 24, and Tamzyn Lomberg, 23, the founders of non-profit organisation EmpowHERed, say that many young girls and women are still unable to afford sanitary pads when they have their periods.
"We started this NPO to empower young females and make them aware that there is more to life than our daily struggles."
"As youth leaders in our church, we've worked with a lot of young females and we've had a connection with them [and] a conversation led to some females stating that they can't go to school for three to five days of the month because they don't have the means to buy pads to wear to school," Lomberg said.
The two women delivered "femcare" packs to you females across the Cape Metro. The packs included pads, a facecloth, deodorant, soap, a toothbrush, toothpaste and a sweet treat.
Winter
After hosting countless fundraisers, including boerewors rolls sales, car washes and competition draws, these young women had to dig into their own pockets to cover the shortfall so that that they could buy products for the care packs.
The packs have gone as far as Worcester.
The two women have just launched their #PROJECTHOPE campaign for the month of May and are hard at work, trying to arrange fundraisers and collect donations from those who are willing to assist so that they can complete packs for the next delivery.
"We are hoping to reach at least +-300 young girls by 7 May 2021, which is when schools should be reopened again."
"We want to get enough femcare packs out there before the winter period comes to Cape Town because we know first-hand what it's like to not have the necessary products when you are on your menstruation cycle," Crowie said.
All products that are received as donations are stored in their bedrooms before they pack the products themselves and load them for delivery.
Seeing the gratitude of recipients was one of the best feelings in the world, they said, adding that it is rewarding to be able to give a young female something that she needs in her life.
"We have filed papers already to have the government come on board with funding to support our NPO so that we are able to gift more females with our femcare packs. But at this stage, we are still awaiting a response from them," Crowie said.
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