Who We Are and What We Do
Help A Girl Out has been combating period poverty and stigma for more than 6 years.
In that time, we’ve passed out more than 60,000 feminine hygiene products, educated hundreds of young people, and championed new, sustainable, ways of making period products accessible to everyone. We’ve done GTA and Canada-wide projects, as well as in developing countries in the Caribbean and Africa.
Now, we need your help.
For the last 6 years we’ve been run entirely by volunteers, some product donations and community support. In 2022, we want to continue the game changing work we’re doing with the security, focus, and the consistency that the recipients & communities need.
We’re asking for your support so that we can:
Fight period poverty, sustainably. We’ve sown 5,000 reusable pads in the last year—serving 1000 people in need and diverting thousands of period products from landfills. This year, we want to continue this work and go even further in our fight to end period poverty, sustainably. We need fabric + money to ship reusable pads within (and out) of the country.
Provide support to underserved communities. We serve people that are left out of current period poverty relief programs: Toronto’s community of new immigrants, remote Indigenous communities, and young people in Nigeria and the Caribbean. These folks are missed by current solutions—and there are hundreds of them that already benefit from our work. We want to keep it going—and expand.
Educate young people from experience. Help A Girl Out is run by Yanique Brandford: a brilliant leader who has lived the experience of period poverty and cultural stigma around her period. That’s why she founded Help A Girl Out in high school. From that experience (and a whole lot of learning), she’s developed educational programs that de-stigmatize periods for young people—so that everyone can get the health benefits of having open conversations about their periods.
Learn more at: www.helpagirlout.org
Who Is Yanique?
Yanique was born in Jamaica, but moved to Canada when she was a teenager. In high school, she was stunned to see how common period poverty was where she was living: 1 in 3 Canadians under 25 struggle to afford period products. So she founded Help A Girl Out.
Since then, she’s won a Global Citizen’s Prize, been featured in podcasts and newspapers, and supported thousands of people through Help A Girl Out.
She’s done all of this as a volunteer while finishing her Master’s Degree.
The Campaign
After 6 years of making an impact in the community—we’re asking for support. This campaign is a way to keep working towards our mission.
We’re asking for $15,000—which will be broken down like this:
$2000—Period Product Support Program. We would use this funding to purchase any surplus products to fit into our Period Product care packages that we deliver to shelters, communities, and people directly.
$3000—Reusables Project. We would use this money to purchase fabric for 1000 reusables pads.
$4000—Remote Community Support. This would be used to pay for shipping thousands of pads to communities in Jamaica and Indigenous communities in Northern Ontario.
$6000—Hiring a part-time Program + Volunteer Coordinator. Our first paid staff would make it possible to continue serving who we want to serve, and go even further.
If you have any questions about Help A Girl Out, reach out on our websi.te
Help A Girl Out has been combating period poverty and stigma for more than 6 years.
In that time, we’ve passed out more than 60,000 feminine hygiene products, educated hundreds of young people, and championed new, sustainable, ways of making period products accessible to everyone. We’ve done GTA and Canada-wide projects, as well as in developing countries in the Caribbean and Africa.
Now, we need your help.
For the last 6 years we’ve been run entirely by volunteers, some product donations and community support. In 2022, we want to continue the game changing work we’re doing with the security, focus, and the consistency that the recipients & communities need.
We’re asking for your support so that we can:
Fight period poverty, sustainably. We’ve sown 5,000 reusable pads in the last year—serving 1000 people in need and diverting thousands of period products from landfills. This year, we want to continue this work and go even further in our fight to end period poverty, sustainably. We need fabric + money to ship reusable pads within (and out) of the country.
Provide support to underserved communities. We serve people that are left out of current period poverty relief programs: Toronto’s community of new immigrants, remote Indigenous communities, and young people in Nigeria and the Caribbean. These folks are missed by current solutions—and there are hundreds of them that already benefit from our work. We want to keep it going—and expand.
Educate young people from experience. Help A Girl Out is run by Yanique Brandford: a brilliant leader who has lived the experience of period poverty and cultural stigma around her period. That’s why she founded Help A Girl Out in high school. From that experience (and a whole lot of learning), she’s developed educational programs that de-stigmatize periods for young people—so that everyone can get the health benefits of having open conversations about their periods.
Learn more at: www.helpagirlout.org
Who Is Yanique?
Yanique was born in Jamaica, but moved to Canada when she was a teenager. In high school, she was stunned to see how common period poverty was where she was living: 1 in 3 Canadians under 25 struggle to afford period products. So she founded Help A Girl Out.
Since then, she’s won a Global Citizen’s Prize, been featured in podcasts and newspapers, and supported thousands of people through Help A Girl Out.
She’s done all of this as a volunteer while finishing her Master’s Degree.
The Campaign
After 6 years of making an impact in the community—we’re asking for support. This campaign is a way to keep working towards our mission.
We’re asking for $15,000—which will be broken down like this:
$2000—Period Product Support Program. We would use this funding to purchase any surplus products to fit into our Period Product care packages that we deliver to shelters, communities, and people directly.
$3000—Reusables Project. We would use this money to purchase fabric for 1000 reusables pads.
$4000—Remote Community Support. This would be used to pay for shipping thousands of pads to communities in Jamaica and Indigenous communities in Northern Ontario.
$6000—Hiring a part-time Program + Volunteer Coordinator. Our first paid staff would make it possible to continue serving who we want to serve, and go even further.
If you have any questions about Help A Girl Out, reach out on our websi.te
Organizer and beneficiary
Yanique Brandford
Beneficiary