The Berrien Community Foundation has received a huge donation of women’s hygiene products to stock at food pantries around the county.
A volunteer team consisting of Lakeshore High School cheerleaders and members of the St. Joseph High School Dance Team helped the BCF unload the truckload of 40,000 pads and 10,000 tampons on Wednesday. Berrien Community Foundation President Lisa Cripps-Downey told us the donation from Helping Women Period out of Lansing came together quickly.
“The Berrien Community Foundation contacted [Helping] Women Period, and we said, ‘Hey, we’ve got 29 food pantries in Berrien County who are all experiencing this need. What if we sent a big truck and got enough supplies that could help supply the whole county?’ And Helping Women Period was like, great.”
Volunteer Mark Penwell and his wife, Jean, headed to Lansing to pick up the items Wednesday morning and loaded up the truck with help from some MSU students. Penwell told us he was glad to make a difference.
“It was an opportunity we thought we could contribute our time and effort and it was an adventure,” Penwell said.
It took the cheerleaders and dance team about a half hour to unload the truck and stash the donated supplies at an office loaned to the BCF on Hilltop Road in St. Joseph Wednesday.
Cripps-Downey says the hygiene products are a need that often gets overlooked when the community is asked to help support food pantries. She says the donation out to be a big help.
