The Jacaranda FM community, alongside the station’s Good Morning Angels initiative and SPAR Women’s Challenge Tshwane, is excited to announce that R220 000 has been raised in support of the MENstruation Foundation’s efforts to end Period Poverty by installing sanitary towel vending machines in schools.
To mark Youth Day and Father’s Day on 16 June 2024 and 18 June respectively, Good Morning Angels is backing the MENstruation Foundation in their quest to ensure that no girl has to choose between dignity and education due to a lack of sanitary products. Despite growing awareness of this issue, 3 out of 10 schoolgirls in South Africa still miss a week of school every month because they cannot afford sanitary towels.
This initiative came to life after a group of innovative and compassionate dads devised a solution: sanitary towel vending machines. These machines, stocked with high-quality, locally-made sanitary towels, dispense products using a token system. To date, 128 of these machines have been installed in schools across South Africa where a designated teacher provides tokens to girls each month, which they use to access sanitary towels from the machines in the school bathrooms.
In a bid to raise as much money as possible, the SPAR Women’s Challenge Tshwane has pledged to support the MENstruation Foundation from this year’s entries to the race, at SuperSport Park on Saturday 3 August. To get the ball rolling, SPAR and Jacaranda FM have announced that they will donate R120 000 to the MENstruation Foundation to install a number of vending machines stocked with sanitary towels.
During Breakfast With Martin Bester this morning, the Jacaranda FM community was so inspired by the initiative that an additional R100 000 was raised by listeners, with more donations still coming in.
“We believe in the power of education and the right of every girl to attend school without interruption. The MENstruation Foundation’s work is critical in ensuring that no girl misses out on learning due to period poverty. I am incredibly proud to be part of this initiative, and I urge everyone to contribute and make a tangible difference in these young girls’ lives,” Martin Bester, host of Jacaranda FM’s Breakfast With Martin Bester shares.
To find out more about the incredible work the MENstruation Foundation is doing and to donate to this incredible cause, visit menstruation.foundation/ or www.jacarandafm.com.
Listen to Good Morning Angels every Wednesday morning on Jacaranda FM’s Breakfast With Martin Bester.
Also see: Get to know more about the health benefits of Tyla’s favourite – Maize Meal
