Hi, Everyone!
We hope you had a wonderful holiday season.
This has been such a wonderful year for Fulfilling Destiny and we are so excited to begin another one together—as a Fulfilling Destiny family! Read on for updates on recent events, including packing parties and distribution drives, as well as our goals for the coming year, plus staff introductions and upcoming volunteer opportunities.
Let’s get to it!
Updates:
In the last couple of months Fulfilling Destiny has grown: our family has expanded; we held several successful packing parties; and even more distribution drives. The holidays were brought on with hope and cheer! Thank you to everyone that participated in events and donated products.
Below are some of the wonderful events of the last two months,
Alpha Pi Sigma Packing Party and Distribution Drive: The sisters of Alpha Pi Sigma collected mensural products and assembled over 100 Dignity Bags before heading downtown to distribute the bags to women and girls in need! Thanks so much Alpha Pi Sigma we are so grateful for your contribution!
Distributions: We distributed Dignity Bags to a number of community partners over the last two months. Eradicating period poverty will take big cultural, social, and institutional change, but distributing bags to women and girls in need helps to alleviate the immediate problem and allows women experiencing homelessness to navigate their periods with dignity.
Packing Party with The House of Plants: We had another wonderful Packing Party at The House of Plants in Chula Vista. Together we packed 116 Dignity Bags with tampons and 70 with pads. Thank you so much to everyone who came out and helped! We could not do our community work without your continued commitment. We also want to give a huge shoutout to The House of Plants. We are so thrilled with our partnership and are excited for our relationship to continue to grow and develop.
Albert Lau’s Donation Party: Albert Lau, our community outreach intern, hosted a Donation Party for Fulfilling Destiny. Thank you so much for everything you do for us! And to all the people who came out to support us; we are so grateful.
Packing Party with Bridget Daffron: This month we had the pleasure of working with Bridget Daffron and her wonderfully generous family. Together we packed Dignity Bags, moving one step closer to alleviating period poverty in San Diego! It was a huge success and we are so grateful to everyone that helped— you are all amazing!!
Donation Drive: A quick thank you to the women of University Christian Church for your generous donations and to La Loupe Vintage for collecting menstrual products. Thank you so much for helping us move closer to our goals. We could not do it without you!
Packing Party with Public Health Initiative: Public Health Initiative of San Diego State University hosted two amazing Packing Parties in November and December. Together we packed over 200 Dignity Bags. Thank you so much for helping to assemble Dignity Bags — you guys are the best!
Staff Spotlight:
This spotlight is taken directly from our newsletter, but we wanted to share it here too!
Our Fulfilling Destiny family is continuing to grow, bringing new people, new opportunities, and exciting new ventures. As our FD family grows, we thought it would be the perfect time for you to get to know our staff a little better! For the next couple of months, we will be introducing a different staff member.
This month …
Introducing Ruby! Ruby writes our newsletter and blog posts.
Why FD: “I am passionate about creating a more safe, equitable, and compassionate world. Women, no matter who they are or where they come from, deserve to feel supported, strong, empowered, and uninhibited—all women deserve to have their periods with dignity.”
Fun fact: I have a fourteen-pound dog named Norman.
A couple of days to be aware of:
January 20th — Martin Luther King Jr. Day
January 24th — National Compliment Day
Some takeaways:
Changing the narrative on periods, from one of shame and humiliation to one of understanding and respect, will take time, and requires both structural and cultural reorganization, but together we can work to help change our community into a supportive, empowering, and uplifting environment for all women and girls, no matter their circumstances. Even the smallest changes can have major impact! Lets make our community a better place!
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