Project Purse 2021

Table of Contents

Updated on March 15, 2023

When you think of donating to those in need, what items do you think of? Clothing? Food? While those items are very much needed, there are other essentials that are too often overlooked. Menstrual products are some of the most needed, yet least donated items. The stigma surrounding periods makes it difficult for people who menstruate to communicate their needs, especially people who are already disenfranchised.

Did you know over 1/3 of people who menstruate often must make budgetary sacrifices just to afford menstrual care products? In fact, a box of pads or tampons costs up to more than 3 times as much in remote cities than they do in metropolitan cities like Toronto. Add a pandemic to that mix, and access to period products is more difficult than ever!

With access to period products in mind, Tanya O’Connor founded Project Purse in 2015 to offer homeless women a chance to manage their periods with dignity. She began filling up purses with toiletries and period products and delivering them to homeless shelters around Ottawa, Ontario. The initiative quickly took off in the media and online and has since spread to other cities and garnered huge community support.

Citron Joins the Project Purse Movement

2020 was a difficult year for people living in period poverty. Those who relied on freely available period products from libraries and other public buildings were struggling after many of those facilities closed during the pandemic. Project Purse was more important than ever in 2020, which is why Citron Hygiene volunteered to join the movement. We partnered with Project Purse and the Ottawa City police to professionally disinfect all donations and ensure safe and hygienic delivery.