Period Promise

About Period Promise

We’ve done the research. Half of everyone who menstruates in BC – women, girls, non-binary people, and trans folx – have struggled to buy products at some point in their life. More than a quarter have gone through a period without having menstrual products whatsoever. And not having the product you need when you need it can make staying connected to community difficult.

That means that single parents are choosing between buying tampons or food for their families, and trans and non-binary kids are scrambling in washrooms, putting together makeshift pads that don’t suit their needs.

Too many families skip out on social events – like going to the library or the pool – because it’s easier to stay home than risk bleeding in public.

People are missing school or leaving work, and too many people face the additional challenges of homelessness, living with a disability, or just the stigma around having a period at all. It isn’t easy to ask for help, or know where to find it.

United Way’s Period Promise is helping out

When people have access to the product they need, it improves their health and well-being and makes it easier for them to stay connected.

And when they know that free product is available when they need it, it makes it easier for them to go to school or work, or contribute to their community.

United Way’s Period Promise campaign is committed to making it easier for everybody to access the product they need, when they need it.

Every donation of tampons, pads, cups, or underwear raises awareness, reduces stigma, and tackles the vulnerability and isolation caused by period poverty. And financial contributions help us purchase product so that we can get it to people in our community.

1,500,000+ menstrual products distributed and counting

To dozens of community organizations in the Lower Mainland, Fraser Valley, Central & Northern Vancouver Island, Thompson Nicola Cariboo, and Southern Interior over the past 5 years, thanks to the help of our donors and partnering organizations. This has made a big difference.

More than 95% of community organizations are asked by their clientele if they provide free menstrual products, or know where they can be found, and more than 80% of the organizations that give them out are dependent on donations from the public through campaigns like United Ways’ Period Promise.

Note: United Way British Columbia works to support period poverty across our communities. All donations stay local.

Period Promise collection campaign presented by

It’s Easy To Make A Difference

In 2023 we hope you’ll help us distribute more product to community organizations in our area. To make that possible, we’ll need to collect more than 700,000 menstrual products – or their equivalent in financial donations. It’s not going to be easy, but we’re making it safe and easy to get involved. 

The easiest way to have an impact is to donate directly to the Period Promise campaign. You can do that by making a financial through this website, or by getting connected to a product collection campaign. If you want to go one step further, you can run a product collection or financial donation campaign with your family, friends, or coworkers! 

This Is A Province-Wide Effort

United Ways from across British Columbia and in other parts of the country are working together to collect and distribute as much product as possible. 

If you are interested in running a local collection campaign with your union or at your workplace, connect with the United Way that works in your region: 
United Ways in BC

• United Way British Columbia (Lower Mainland, Thompson Nicola Cariboo, Southern Interior, & Central Northern Vancouver Island region)
• United Way Southern Vancouver Island
• United Way of Northern British Columbia 
• United Way of Powell River 

United Ways outside BC

• United Way of Hamilton-Halton 
• United Way of Northumberland 
• United Way of Niagara 
• United Way of Central Alberta

A History Of Major Impact

• In 2017, United Way of the Lower Mainland began working on this issue and collected over 30,000 menstrual products for community agencies in the Lower Mainland. 
• In 2018, donations increased almost 7 times over – we collected over 220,000 individual products.
• In 2019 we collected over 500,000 individual products.
• In 2020, during COVID-19, we collected and distributed over 450,000 individual products despite the unique challenges caused by the pandemic. In total, more than 75 community agencies received free menstrual products – pads, cups, tampons, and underwear – that could be given out to their clients.   
• In 2021 we collected over 558,000 individual products!

With the help of thousands of donors and partners, we’ve been able to get more than 1,500,000 menstrual products into our community, making it easier for people to get to work, go to school, attend their child’s school play, or provide for their family.  

Period Promise collection campaign presented by

Period Promise Campaign Toolkit

Thank you for joining United Way’s Period Promise campaign. The Period Promise Campaign will be running from May 16 to June 13, 2023.

If you are subscribed to our newsletter you will receive regular updates during the campaign. If you have questions about the campaign, you can contact us.

Getting started

If you would like to personally donate menstrual products or give financial support to the Period Promise campaign, you can:

1. Make a financial donation that we’ll use to buy a wide variety of menstrual products by clicking here.
2. Interested in running a fundraising campaign? Click here to utilize our QGiv platform to raise money for the Period Promise Campaign.
3. Use the toolkit below to run a local collection and connect with us at periodpromise@uwbc.ca to set up a safe drop-off opportunity at your local United Way BC office.

Campaign Materials

If you would like to organize a Period Promise event or campaign in your community, at your workplace, or within your union, we’ve created several campaign materials to help you.

Other ways to get involved

• Volunteer to help us get period products into the hands of those who need them.
• Spread the word about our Period Positive policy shift and ask employers, unions, and governments to take action to support those who menstruate. This is the heart of our Period Promise – a year-round effort to make our communities more accessible to everyone. 
• Join our Facebook group and use #PeriodPromise on social media.

Period Promise collection campaign presented by

Make Your Period Promise Today

There’s often silence around periods and how hard it is to access products that help us live with the dignity that we all deserve. That’s why we believe in making incredibly important systemic change as easy as possible. One way of doing that is by increasing access to free menstrual products at community organizations.  

Another way is to tampons and pads available, for free, in public washrooms throughout our communities – just like toilet paper. And because we know that people who menstruate and people who care for menstruators use all washrooms, we are asking organizations to commit to free product that is accessible to people of all genders. 

We’ve been working on making that possible for years now, and we’ve had an impact by being part of the push to get free products into public schools across BC and working with municipalities to get free product into public washrooms, like Port Coquitlam, Richmond, Victoria, Valemount and many others.  
 
With United Way’s Period Promise Policy Agreement, any organization, of any shape or size, can be part of the solution – and the list of signatories below proves it! But if you’re a local business owner, union or community leader, we need your support to get the word out there. 
 
Wondering where to start? Curious about costs? We’ve done the research. Our Period Promise Policy Agreement provides the framework you need to show your leadership. Contact us now to learn more. 

Let’s work together to eradicate period poverty.   

Make your Period Promise today.  

Period Promise Policy Agreement Signatories

The following organizations have committed to providing free and accessible products in their workplace or office: 

It Has An Impact

“As the presenting sponsor we want to use our voice — and the voices of other organizations that have also made a Period Promise to provide free and accessible products in our workplaces — to help remove the physical and mental stigma around menstruation,” says Rob Chiarello, the Senior Vice President of People and Culture at Pacific Blue Cross. “Helping people live with the dignity they deserve creates healthier, more caring, and more inclusive communities.”  

“About 5 years ago, I worked in a male-led office in downtown Vancouver.  To my surprise, tampons were fully stocked in the washrooms. This made me feel so safe,” said one participant in our Period Promise Research Project. “I didn’t have to worry about obviously bringing my purse to the washroom during work, carrying a tampon up my sleeve, or using a makeshift toilet paper pad in the case I forgot one, which can be miserably uncomfortable.”

Period Promise collection campaign presented by

United Way Period Promise Research Project

United Way is proud to release the Period Promise Research Project Final Report. More than 1600 people responded to a public survey where they shared how period poverty impacts their life and access to community. Hundreds provided testimonies that speak to the importance of increasing access to free menstrual products.

Through the year-long project United Way also provided free tampons and pads to 12 community organizations from around the province to give out. More than 300,000 menstrual products were distributed, and the results made it clear that community organizations are essential to building solutions to period poverty in our province. 

Funded by the Government of BC, this research is providing United Way and the Government with a profile of period poverty in BC. It outlines the impact of not having access to menstrual products and the benefits of being able to find free products in community organizations. 

The final report highlights how common the lack of access to menstrual products in British Columbia is, and helps identify some of the serious negative effects on people’s daily activities and participation in their community. A few quick findings are highlighted below. Unfortunately, the impacts of period poverty are magnified for Indigenous people and people living with disabilities. 

Facts from the Research Project

• Approximately 51% of respondents to our public survey indicated that they had struggled to purchase product for themselves.
• 26% of respondents indicated they had gone through a period without having menstrual products available to them. 
• Not having access to menstrual products is an isolating factor: 18% of respondents indicated that they missed school, 22% work, 29% community events, and 27% social events when they didn’t have access. 
• Nearly 75% of respondents indicated that having access to products at community organizations allows them to be more engaged in their community.

Participating agencies

Thank you to the following 12 non-profit agencies around the province for participating in this research project:

Cranbrook  – Community Connection Society of Southeastern BC
Victoria  – Victoria Youth Empowerment Society
Victoria  – Society of St Vincent de Paul
Powell River – Powell River Action Centre Society
Prince George – Prince George Sexual Assault Centre Society
Terrace – Ksan Society in Terrace
Nanaimo  – Nanaimo Women’s Centre
Hope – Hope + Area Transition Society
Surrey – Fraser Region Aboriginal Friendship Centre
Vancouver – Kiwassa Neighbourhood House
Vancouver – RayCam Community Centre
Kelowna – Living Positive Resource Centre

Project funded by

Supporting Sponsors

Period Promise News

Period Poverty Task Force

On May 27, 2022, the Government of BC established a multi-sector Period Poverty Task Force to further advance the Province’s goal to end period poverty and remove the stigma associated with menstruation. Grant funding of $750,000 was provided to United Way BC to support the work of the task force as a secretariat, and to ensure continued delivery of free period products to people who need them, including through United Way British Columbia’s annual Period Promise campaign.

The members of the task force, appointed by government, will be meeting regularly over a period of 18 months. By March 2024, they will propose sustainable approaches to period poverty in B.C. by submitting a final report for the Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction with short, medium, and long-term recommendations to achieve the long-term goal of ending period poverty. United Way BC will provide secretariat support to complete this work. 

Because of the people who are sitting at the table, our work with this Task Force is particularly exciting. When considering who to appoint the Government of BC and Nikki Hill, Task Force Chair, considered geographical location, people with knowledge of the period poverty and menstrual equity movement, and people with a wide variety of lived experiences. We prioritized including people from the Indigenous community, people living with disabilities, and people with diverse genders.   

The members of the Task Force are: 

• Nikki Hill, Chair 
• A.J. Lowik 
• Jackie Jack 
• Kate Fish 

• Lori-Ann Armstrong 
• Tiffany Ottahal 
• Zeba Khan 
  

More information

The Task Force will be supported by four reference groups that will begin meeting in the Spring of 2023. These groups will help diversify input into the Task Force’s report to the Government of BC. They will consist of businesses, community-based organizations, BC-based menstrual equity advocates, and people with lived experience of period poverty. 

In addition to supporting the costs of administering the Period Poverty Task Force, the grant to United Way BC will support trialing innovative pilot projects for the distribution of free menstrual products into community through a Pilot Project Fund. These funded models will explore public policy approaches that could be adopted by the Government of BC, partners, and other sectors to support people living in BC with limited access to menstrual products. Members of the Task Force will review applications and final reports from the pilots will inform their recommendations to Government. 

The total investment into research pilots will be no less than $220,000. Applications can range in budget from $10,000 to $25,000. 

Request for Proposals

Applications for the fund were open from October 7^th to November 4^th, 2022. For more information or to view to Request for Proposals and consider making an application, click here. 

If you have any questions, please reach out to us at PeriodPovertyTaskForce@uwbc.ca. 

Period Poverty Pilot Project Fund

On behalf of the BC Government and its Period Poverty Task Force, United Way British Columbia (BC) is excited to offer funding to short-term, impact-focused pilot projects testing out models for increasing access to free menstrual products in BC. The funded pilot projects will provide data and insights to the Task Force so that they can make informed recommendations to the government in March 2024. Interested parties from across the province, including community-based organizations and independent community-based researchers, are encouraged to submit proposals. Particular consideration will be offered to proposals developed by, for, and with Indigenous-led, people living with disabilities, and other equity-deserving communities. 

The total investment into research pilots will be no less than $220,000. Applications can range in budget from $10,000 to $25,000. 

Funded pilot projects will focus on:  

• Testing methods of getting menstrual products (and other materials supporting people who menstruate) into the hands of people who need them 
• Reducing stigma around menstruation in a manner that is culturally relevant 
• Increasing awareness of how to make the best and healthiest use of menstrual products 
• Building impactful solutions through an intersectional lens 

Funded projects will have a pre-determined timeframe to complete their work. Funding will be distributed in November 2022, and data-based reports outlining impact and findings will be due in August 2023. To help ensure their success, United Way BC will offer support to help with the launch and completion of each funded project. Some flexibility around completion dates can be requested if funded projects would benefit from longer timelines for inquiry.  

United Way BC has opened a Request for Proposals that will accept submissions from October 7 to November 7, 2022 (11:59PM). To review the Request for Proposals, click here. This document contains information around eligibility for the fund, anticipated support and mentorship from United Way BC, key features of a strong submission, and detailed information outlining how to submit applications.  

Example of application

An example of a strong application that the review committee would consider funding can be found here. 

Information session

An information session with Q&A was held on October 17, 2022, over zoom. The session was recorded and can be viewed here https://youtu.be/CRm_ggRawqc.

To support the goals and objectives of this fund, United Way BC is partnering with Dr. Lisa Smith. Dr. Smith is the Coordinator of the Menstrual Cycle Research Group at Douglas College, where she offers guidance and mentorship to researchers exploring questions related to period poverty and menstrual equity.  

Contact

Questions are warmly welcomed. Please reach out to us at PeriodPovertyTaskForce@uwbc.ca. 

Collection Campaign Partners

Partners make it all possible

The Period Promise Collection Campaign is privileged to be supported by an amazing group of sponsors. We can’t thank the following organizations enough for their generous support of this year’s Campaign.

2023 United Way BC Period Promise Collection Campaign sponsors 

Presenting Sponsor

Special thanks to long-time partner Pacific Blue Cross, in partnership with CUPE 1816, for their ongoing support of our Period Promise campaign.  

Product Sponsors

Collection Sponsor

Regional Sponsors – Lower Mainland

Collection Sponsor

Regional Sponsors – Thompson Nicola Cariboo

Supporting Sponsor

Media Sponsors

Contact Us

Do you have questions about United Way’s Period Promise campaign? We always look forward to hearing from you. Please feel free to contact us anytime by email.