Sanitary Product Initiative Gets Massive Boost

Sanitary Product Initiative Gets Massive Boost

Partnership with U by Kotex to provide thousands of sanitary products for women in need

• Kimberly-Clark to partner with The Foodbank Project to donate 2,000 packs of U by Kotex tampons and pads ($10,000 value) to The Salvation Army's Manukau Community Ministry as well as ongoing donations throughout the year ahead

• Women’s hygiene bundle available for donating on The Foodbank Project website, a collaboration between The Salvation Army, Countdown and web developer Lucid

14 November 2017: A crucial initiative to help women and girls who can’t afford sanitary products has been given a significant boost.

Countdown and The Salvation Army have teamed up with Kimberly-Clark's U by Kotex to provide free sanitary products through The Foodbank Project, New Zealand’s first online food bank.

To kick off the partnership, Kimberly-Clark has donated 2,000 packs of tampons and pads ($10,000 value) to The Salvation Army’s Manukau Community Ministry. In the year ahead, Kimberly-Clark will work together with The Foodbank Project with an aim to provide more than 20,000 packs of sanitary products to New Zealand women in need.

Louisa Wall, Manurewa MP, says female sanitary products are a basic need which many young Kiwi women on tight budgets are going without.

“Sanitary products are an essential that sadly many Kiwi women struggle to afford. The lack of sanitary products is a major obstacle to regular school attendance and creates health concerns about the unhygienic substitutes women are having to use instead. This is a really significant community issue and it’s important for us all to continue talking about it and working out effective solutions.”

Liz Metz, General Manager at Kimberly-Clark New Zealand, says the partnership with The Foodbank Project is another way to help ensure Kiwi women have access to all their essential needs.

“At Kimberly-Clark we care about the wellbeing of New Zealand women. We already have a comprehensive national schools programme where we provide young women with sanitary products, and this partnership with The Foodbank Project and ongoing donations of U by Kotex is another way that we are working to ensure Kiwi women have a safe and effective way to manage their periods so they can pursue the futures they deserve.”

The Foodbank Project (www.foodbank.org.nz) is an online collaboration between The Salvation Army, Countdown and web developer Lucid, which makes it easy for people to donate food and other supermarket essentials to those who need them most. Countdown is involved on a not-for-profit basis, and donates any profit made on donations back to The Salvation Army.

Major Pam Waugh, The Salvation Army’s National Secretary for Social Services, says “We are about to head into our busiest time of the year when everyone’s budgets are incredibly stretched. Many women will go without basic sanitary products to try and save costs so they can provide other essentials like food for their families. This donation will go a long way to helping ensure women have the essential sanitary items.”

The donation and partnership with Kimberly-Clark is a significant enhancement to The Foodbank Project, Countdown’s General Manager of Corporate Affairs James Walker says.

“New Zealanders can follow Kimberly-Clark’s lead and donate a $16 Women’s Hygiene bundle to support young women who don’t have the money for personal items. Countdown also makes it easy for customers to donate sanitary items in-store for The Salvation Army, through our specially marked Food Rescue bins,” Mr Walker says.

ENDS

About Countdown:

Countdown is one of New Zealand’s largest employers with around 18,000 team members across 184 supermarkets, distribution centres, processing plants and support offices. We serve 2.8 million customers every week, and work with thousands of food producers and suppliers throughout New Zealand. We’re committed to being part of the communities we live and work in and some of our activities include: the Countdown Kids Hospital Appeal which has raised more than $10.4 million in the past 10 years for children’s hospital wards around the country, and Countdown Food Rescue which donates more than $3.5 million of food each year to The Salvation Army and other food bank charity partners.www.countdown.co.nz

About The Foodbank Project:

The Foodbank Project www.foodbank.org.nz, New Zealand’s first online foodbank, is a collaboration between Countdown, The Salvation Army, and Nelson based web developer Lucid. The Foodbank Project enables food to be quickly, easily and securely donated online to fill Salvation Army food parcels. Since launching in September 2015, New Zealanders have donated nearly $400,000 of food to people in need through this online platform. Donations to The Foodbank Project are distributed via The Salvation Army in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Whangarei, Gisborne and Nelson. Countdown is involved in The Foodbank Project on a not-for-profit basis, and delivers the donated items to The Salvation Army foodbanks through its online shopping network, and donates any profits from items delivered to fund the site.

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