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Hygiene. We don鈥檛 like to talk about it. We all need to maintain it. Maintaining it costs money. And growing up in Jamaica, Yanique Brandford knew that poverty sometimes means making hard choices.

鈥淲e were very poor, so we couldn鈥檛 afford certain hygiene products,鈥� says Brandford, a third-year Ryerson medical physics student. 鈥淚t was a choice鈥攎oney for food, transportation, clothes, whatever, and hygiene was second. And after we鈥檇 spend money on that, there would be no more money left鈥�

鈥淚 thought it was just our family, but when I went to school, the other girls were facing similar problems as well鈥攂ut nobody spoke about it, because there鈥檚 so much stigma attached to menstruation and hygiene. You wouldn鈥檛 tell your friend, 鈥業 don鈥檛 have deodorant today,鈥� or, 鈥業 don鈥檛 have toothpaste.鈥� You wouldn鈥檛 share that.鈥�

Brandford is the founder of , a non-profit charity that provides feminine hygiene products to women in need. The initiative collects donations of products like pads and tampons, collected in care packages and distributed to local shelters and institutions.

The idea emerged shortly after Brandford moved to Canada in 2011, and discovered that period poverty was prevalent here, too. 鈥淚 came to Canada, and I saw it happening here, which made me very sad. I decided to do something about it.

鈥淚 had the idea for some time, but I would always come up with excuses for why I couldn鈥檛 do it. 鈥業鈥檓 too busy, I don鈥檛 know anything about non-profits, I鈥檓 too young.鈥� I kept seeing it more and more until I said, 鈥榊鈥檏now what? I鈥檓 going to follow through with this.鈥� I started with an Instagram page, and then I reached out for donations with this one shelter, and then it just kept going.鈥�

The launched May 15 (the day before Brandford鈥檚 birthday), and within two months started a charity drive. So far, Help a Girl Out has helped over 250 women and girls in the GTA in homes, shelters, soup kitchens and on the street. 鈥淎t first it was really hard because I had to learn to market myself, and I had to keep records鈥攁ll that was very new,鈥� says Brandford. How did she learn? 鈥淕oogle! Google knows everything.鈥�

For the winter pledge drive, Brandford hopes to collect enough hygiene products for 50 care packages, and encourages the Ryerson community to donate. 鈥淧eriod poverty is something so stigmatized, nobody talks about it. A lot of cultures see it as something women should be ashamed of. A lot of girls in Africa have to sleep outside. Nobody鈥檚 going to come right out and ask for this stuff, so somebody has to talk about it. So I鈥檓 that person talking about it!鈥�

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