SPOKANE, Wash. — Volunteers of America has begun its annual Mardi Bras fundraiser. The fundraiser supports more than 600 people experiencing homelessness in Spokane.
This is the seventh year Volunteers of America has hosted the fundraiser.
VOA is partnering with Transitions Women's Hearth to help women experiencing homelessness.
Mardi Bras is back and this year, featuring a Mardi Bras party which is a collection drive.
Rae-Lynn Barden is the communications director for Volunteers of America. She says this event gives people the resources they don't have.
"So the product we receive benefits both organizations, as we serve about 1700 people a year. And then what product we don't anticipate needing for the year we distribute to community partners," said Barden.
According to last year's Point In Time count, there are more than 600 homeless women living in Spokane.
Many of these women don't have access to necessary clothing and hygiene items.
"Shelters are always in need of underwear and bras and tampons and pads are always something that is really overlooked. So the need is there, we're out of underwear for women, we have no men's underwear as well," said Barden.
At the end of the month, donations will be spilt evenly between Hope House and Women's Hearth.
Last year, more than 2,000 bras and pairs of underwear and 10,000 tampons and pads were collected.
Barden said, "Our community is so generous when it comes to our Mardi Bra timing of the year and we've gotten thousands of tampons, hundreds of bras, we always do a count and the response is overwhelming."
If you're interested in donating items to Mardi Bras, some of their donation locations include Hope House and VOA's main building on South Adams.
You can also check our website for more locations.
The fundraiser goes until the end of the month. Their most needed items are bras, tampons, and bus passes.