Food Banks Canada / Banques Alimentaires Canada

Purpose

This pilot project will test the provision of free menstrual products to community organizations serving diverse low-income populations in various locations across Canada and scale up existing education and awareness activities to increase awareness of period poverty and reduce the stigma of menstruation. Specifically, this pilot project (Phase 1) will allow Food Banks Canada to engage with private sector partners to procure menstrual products and work with its transportation partners to efficiently distribute the products through its national network of food banks and partnerships with community-based organizations including shelters, friendship centres and local food banks to various pilot sites across the country. In addition, the organization will test the provision of free reusable menstrual products in one or more communities as part of this pilot project. Food Banks Canada will also work with a consortium of menstrual equity organizations in Canada to scale up existing education and awareness activities to increase awareness of period poverty and reduce the stigma of menstruation in Canada. The organization will launch a transparent, impartial and fair process to select menstrual equity organizations for this component of the pilot. Food Banks Canada will monitor progress, collect data, and report on project activities to develop recommendations for the advancement of menstrual equity in Canada. A GBA+ perspective will be applied throughout the implementation of the pilot to ensure inclusivity of the process and a better access to the products and programming. The supplemental funding (Phase 2) will allow Food Banks Canada to expand the distribution of disposable and reusable menstrual products to additional sites in Northern Communities, working with organization(s) working within these communities. Food Banks Canada will also distribute additional disposable products to pilot sites demonstrating the greatest need based on data collected during the early stages of implementation and provide additional funds to menstrual education and awareness organizations to expand the scope of their work. Additionally, Food Banks Canada will partner with organization(s) to test the making of reusable menstrual product within northern community(ies). Given the significant cost of disposable product in these regions, the piloting of a range of reusable product into these northern communities will be helpful to understand the challenges and key lessons of such initiatives. The supplemental funding (Phase 3) will allow Food Banks Canada to distribute additional disposable products to pilot sites demonstrating the greatest need based on data collected during the early stages of implementation and to provide additional funds to menstrual education and awareness organizations to expand the scope of their work. The Supplemental funding (Phase 4) will allow Food Banks Canada to enhance the financial support allocated to menstrual education and awareness organizations to pursue the expansion of their activities.