The Road Not Taken Often Enough

Are you one of the millions of Americans who love to give during the holidays? There are lots of needy people, many in our own communities. Adding one more pair of socks to the cart or a little extra food in our grocery baskets to help those less fortunate feels as good to the givers as it does to the receivers. Coat and sweater drives are big this time of year. I know I feel better zipping up my nice warm North Face when I’ve already helped a local child to do the same.

But some other items are needed just as badly as coats, socks, and sweaters. I had never given them a thought when making my donation boxes until my friend, Barb, made me aware of their shortage in charitable distribution centers.

Most of us, including women, don’t think about how important feminine hygiene products are. It brings out the middle-schooler-going-to-health-class-for-the-“talk” in us. We feel uncomfortable discussing these products and why we need them. We don’t even like to think about them. Frankly, I’m uncomfortable writing about them. But, really, if we did think about them for a moment we’d think about how the human race wouldn’t exist if these products weren’t necessary.

Most women who are reading this have probably been caught once or twice in a situation where they didn’t have one of these products on hand when needed. So it’s probably not too difficult to imagine how that would feel about 12 times each year. Especially if you know your problem can’t be remedied by a trip to the store because there’s no money to pay for what you need.

I’ve been asked by the folks behind the charitable movement, Thinking of Her, to ask you to consider adding a box of feminine hygiene products to your donation this year. These products are very necessary to the needy, and are rarely given. If you’re on the management side of holiday drives, please consider adding these products to your suggested donation lists, too. And if you’d like more information about Thinking of Her, or doing a Thinking of Her drive, you can find it here.

Photo Courtesy of dan / Freedigitalphotos.net