Social marketer Vimala Kanagaratnam has been doing her part during the movement control order (MCO) by delivering sanitary pads to those in need through her initiative, Project Red Dot.
Vimala believes that many overlook the fact that menstruating women require sanitary pads every month, in addition to household essentials. When she was distributing baby formula and groceries to underprivileged families, Vimala received a plea for help from a father who could not afford to buy pads for his daughters.
“I received a text message in Malay one night from a father who said his daughter was menstruating but they didn’t have any money to buy sanitary pads. It really broke my heart when I read that message. It’s already so difficult for these families to put food on the table, what more to buy sanitary pads,” Vimala told Malay Mail.
Within 24 hours, she managed to gather seven boxes of pads sponsored by her friends and she hoped to get more people on board to expand the scope of her donations.
Vimala’s distribution of sanitary pads is still ongoing. She does not accept cash donations and has asked Good Samaritans to order the sanitary pads online and have them delivered to her address so she can then distribute them.
“You don’t have to send the pads to me, you can even just buy pads for your next-door neighbour if you know they can’t afford to buy them right now.”
She is currently helping families living in PPR flats in Kelana Jaya and hopes to lend a helping hand to those in Desa Mentari as well once more donations come in.
Those interested in joining this initiative can get in touch with Vimala on Facebook here or Instagram here.
