HELP CHANGE THEIR FUTURE!

DAYS FOR GIRLS

Mission Statement

To reverse the cycle of poverty and violence 
by building efficient, direct and effective means for girls and women worldwide 
to improve their dignity, health and opportunity with access to 
sustainable menstrual hygiene management. 

For every girl and women everywhere.

UNDIES FOR SUNDAES

The leader of a Days for Girls team elsewhere reports that she had an "Undies for Sundaes" event at her small church.  I believe that the church provided ice cream and toppings during the coffee gathering after the service, and people brought in packages of girls' underwear.  Do any of you have a church or service-oriented group where you could do something similar?  She reports:

"In our first two Undies for Sundaes we've collected 228 pairs of undies and $232. We're a small congregation, so this is really great!"

I've heard of successful underwear drives elsewhere, including middle and high schools, and it might be a great fit for clubs such as Rotary, Lions, Soroptimists, PEO, etc.

A few years ago an awesome foursome of 6th graders in Hawaii learned about Days for Girls and wanted to help.  The girls held some bake sales to raise money for underwear.  At that time, there were no teams or chapters in their state, so by some magic they selected us to receive the bounty.  They used their bake sale proceeds to order 210 pairs of underwear from Target, online, and had them delivered to my home!  Amazing!!

Please consider whether you could set up something like this at a group (or groups) you belong to--even a knitting circle, quilting friends, walking group, bridge club, etc.  With the Back-to-School sales on girls' underwear coming up soon, this summer would be a great time.  Target and Walmart typically compete with each other in mid to late summer with 12-pack prices that work out to 50¢ or less per pair.  If you have a Target card, there's an additional discount!

Details:

The style we use is briefs or low-cut briefs.  

100% cotton or cotton blend.  

We prefer medium to darker colors, but can dye the white and light ones that come in the packs, so they are not a problem.

The sizes we use are Girls' 10, 12, 14 and 16, and smaller women's sizes.

Each of our kits contains 2 pairs of briefs, so we do use a lot!

Of course, monetary donations and Target gift cards work very well.  Just talking to your friends about the need for girls' underwear might open some eyes to what girls in impoverished parts of the world have to deal with each month.  

DFG IN GUATAMALA

Meet two of the phenomenal women who get to serve their community, provide the vital service of access to quality durable menstrual care, and make a living doing it at Days for Girls Guatemala. Shout out to the whole team. Thank you for all that you do!

JULY WORKDAY

Here are some of our incredible volunteers working on kit components on July 7.  We had a good time and so much was accomplished!  

And don't we have the most remarkable place to work?!  Our Sewing Room has so much work space for us to cut, press, sew, serge, affix snaps, etc, and the quilts hanging around the room are such a lovely visual bonus!  (Our Sewing Room is a membership-based work space.  If you're local, you just might want to join OSR to have a wonderful, spacious  place to work and meet others who enjoy sewing).

Our next workday is Saturday, August 4th.  Join us if you can!

NAIROBI DELIVERY

While we were working Saturday,  an email came in from Christine, who's head of the Days for Girls Enterprise in Nairobi, Kenya.  Linda, an Oregon friend who had arrived in Kenya for a safari the night before, had just passed on a 48-pound suitcase that she'd checked on her flight, full of supplies for Christine's enterprise.

A few months ago, when Linda generously offered to take a bag for us, I contacted Christine, and we emailed back and forth about what would be most helpful . . . flannel, PUL, scissors, snaps, underwear, grosgrain,  templates, labels, etc.

Christine made it easy for Linda hand off the suitcase--she met her at her hotel in the morning.  Thank you SO much Linda!

I was delighted that we could help an enterprise, and it was fun shopping.  I was so pleased that Christine shared photos of herself discovering what we'd sent, and gave me permission to post them here.

DFG FOUNDER RECOGNIZED

Conscious Company has just announced its “Top Conscious Business Leaders 2018” list in their Summer 2018 print issue.  DFG Founder Celeste Mergens made that list!

Celeste Mergens, 56

Founder & CEO of Days for Girls International

Bellingham, WA

There are 1.5 billion women of reproductive age in the world, and 500 million of them lack access to safe, affordable menstrual health resources. When a girl lacks menstrual health supplies and education she is more likely to leave school and otherwise falter in life. Days for Girls, the nonprofit Mergens founded in 2008 after becoming aware of the problem while she was assisting in an orphanage in Kenya, has invented an eco-friendly, brightly patterned, washable menstrual pad sewn from locally sourced materials, and a network for distributing and selling them. Just as important as providing dignified solutions, Mergens’ organization is shattering stigma around menstruation by including conversations about positive body image with every kit distributed.

Conscious Leader Cred

Days for Girls (DfG) has reached 1 million women and girls in 124 countries with its patented DfG Kits and education outreach. In addition, DfG has started 70 microbusinesses in 15 countries and more than 800 volunteer chapters, teams, and clubs. “Through Mergens’ leadership style of collaboration and humility, Days for Girls now has a US-patented design that works well across climates, cultures, and supply chains — the genius of collaborative, responsive design,” writes her nominator.

Lessons from Mergens

1. “Trust the power of team process. We can make many good decisions alone, but adding the perspective of team members is like borrowing insight that would otherwise require personal investment of time and research. Even better, people support what they create.”

2. “Honor the wisdom of those you serve. Seek their advice and perspective as a primary consideration. Though working with diverse cultures can be challenging, the diversity can bring depth and strength to products, processes, and programs.”

3. “DfG pads are an example of the genius of being tenaciously flexible for the sake of excellence. We listened and went back to the design drawing board 28 times to get to where we are today.”

4. “Gratitude is more than a platitude; it’s a management method that empowers genius and unlocks team energy.”

Photo by Ashley Christensen

Judges’ Take

“It’s a huge opportunity to solve a root problem that holds women back. The solution is sustainable, with economic empowerment built in. I think it’s incredible.” — NH