Happy February, everyone!
This year we would like to invite you and your quarantine pals to join us in packing 1,000 Dignity Bags a month. Your support helps us provide essentials to menstruators well throughout our community. Keep reading to find out more ways to get involved and learn more about our new additions to the Fulfilling Destiny team!
Reminder: For the safety of our community, our group events remain postponed. Despite this, we are still allowing volunteers to have socially distant packing parties, host virtual fundraisers, and distribute Dignity Bags to our partners. Feel free to contact us anytime for more information!
Amazing Updates:
Our Spring Intern applications are closed and we are happy to announce that we have invited several amazing individuals to intern with us! Stay tuned to learn more about our Spring interns and their future final projects.
We would love to take the time to thank Kay Felicano and her six-year-old son, who packed a total of 167 Dignity Bags (79 tampon bags and 88 pad bags). They also distributed some of them to one of our partners, Victory Resource Center. Thank you both for your hard work, it goes a long way in our community!
We had numerous volunteers host packing parties in January. We are so grateful for their dedication and drive to support our community of menstruators during the pandemic. Holly hosted a wonderful family packing party with her children, Ella and Miles, along with their friend, Ripley, and her mom (@dreacolores).
 |  |
Another thank you to Sarah, Uchenna, and Brody who packed 99 dignity bags! They will be dropping these off
 |  |
Read more about how to host your own Packing Party below!
Big thank you to The San Diego Foundation, who helped fund our work so we can keep supporting the community during the pandemic! The San Diego Foundation inspires enduring philanthropy and enables community solutions to improve the quality of life in our region. Their focus is to help all people in our community by supporting their partnering organizations in San Diego.
We would like to also share our gratitude for the contribution from The Bryan & Sheava Wax Community Fund of The Jewish Community Foundation who helped fund our work. Thank you so much for your partnership and support!
The beautifully illustrated above was created by Patrick Ballesteros (@patrickballesteros on Instagram). We are grateful for his continual support for Fulfilling Destiny through using his artistic talent to raise money for our organization. Patrick was introduced to Fulfilling Destiny by his beautiful wife Kay. Our gratitude to the Ballesteros family for their continued support. This is the second print he has illustrated and sold in order to donate proceeds to our mission. Thank you Patrick for helping us provide so many Dignity Bags for menstruators in our community!
Fulfilling Destiny founder, Eya, distributed Dignity Bags to our partners, Sharia’s Closet and Women’s Resource Center, Think Dignity Storage, and Neil Good Day Center this month. It is so exciting to see the community come together and work with other amazing local organizations. You can learn more about our Distribution Partners here!
 |  |
Lastly, we are also happy to announce that we purchased and received our first big order of the new year and we are even happier that we are going to be able to reach and serve more menstruators in need! Check it out!
Staff Spotlight:
Please welcome the newest additions to our Fulfilling Destiny family!
Nicole Deis (she/her/hers), Community Outreach Leader
Nicole was born and raised in San Diego and she recently graduated from San Diego State University with a BS in Health Communication. She is currently working on her Graduate degree in Nonprofit Leadership and Management at the University of San Diego. Her ultimate goal is to help bridge the gap in healthcare disparities, focusing on prevented healthcare catering to Women. She loves to travel and explore new places!
Kendra Straub (she/her/hers), Grant Writer + Program Strategic Manager
Kendra holds a Master’s Degree in Communication with an emphasis in applied research and statistics from San Diego State University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science with a minor in Ethnic Studies from Northern Arizona University. Her dedication to capturing the impact of social services, maintaining fidelity in program delivery, and establishing good stewardship has led to nonprofit sustainability and meeting society’s most vulnerable needs. She is a nationally recognized expert in her field and an established profile in local government, higher education, and the nonprofit sector. Fun Fact, she received a full-ride scholarship to compete in Speech & Debate in College.
Host a Packing Party!
At Fulfilling Destiny, we have a goal of making 1,000 Dignity Bags every month and we need your help!
We would like you to gather up your quarantine friends or family for a Packing Party. We will give you all the materials needed for your Packing Party but you can also donate products as well and use them in your Dignity Bags!
To participate, send us an email at jayzle-may@fulfillingdestiny.org
Click here for a Guide to Hosting a Packing Party. It contains helpful information and instructions for a fun and successful day of packing!
 |  |
Other Ways to Help:
We are still accepting donations. If you have the means to donate, we would greatly appreciate your help!
Reminder, we are always looking for volunteers. Packing parties are a fun way to get involved and can be done with all of your quarantine pals! You can also help by hosting a virtual fundraiser, donation drive, or helping us with distributions.
Thank you all for a great first month! We are so appreciative of the collective work and compassion from our community. Let’s continue to build and grow together.
As always, we hope you stay safe and healthy. We want to remind you that we are here for you. Please feel free to reach out to us! Your resiliency is inspiring! Keep going and growing.
