Hygiene drive in Berks collects 86,151 essential items

Help A Girl Out has completed its annual hygiene product drive in Berks. This year, the initiative collected a total of 86,151 items, including diapers, pads, tampons, and wipes. This is an impressive 82% increase from last year’s total of 47,314 donations. Suzanne Cody, the co-founder of the drive, expressed gratitude to the community for their support. She highlighted the importance of providing essential hygiene items to women and girls, allowing them to go through their daily lives with dignity. The need for such programs is evident. According to the Alliance for Period Supplies, 1 in 7 women and girls aged 12 to 44 in Pennsylvania lives below the Federal Poverty Line. Lack of access to hygiene products forces some women to miss work and causes many teens to miss school. The grassroots effort was started in 2021 by Cody and Alison Pakradooni. This year, they collaborated with JPrutzman Enterprises to expand their impact, placing collection boxes at over 30 different locations. New partnerships with Helping Harvest Fresh Food Bank and Co-County Wellness Services also helped with the logistics of distribution. Volunteers gathered recently at Helping Harvest to sort and count the donations. Among them was Emily Kenniston Fitzpatrick, the International Mrs. East Coast. She emphasized her commitment to women's health advocacy and the importance of leading by example for her daughter. Organizations in need of hygiene products can contact Co-County Wellness at 610-375-6523 or via email. For those interested in hosting a collection box next year, additional information is available on the Help A Girl Out website.