Dignity in a bag

All bags assembled within Campaspe Shire are kept local, ensuring they go to women in the community who may be in need.

Share the Dignity committee member Michele Uebergang said they expected demand for the bags to remain high this year.

“When women leave with nothing, they are just so grateful to be able to wash their hair and clean their teeth ... and that’s a lot of people in those situations,” she said.

“We don't really know what the demand will be this time but going on this year, I expect it to be relatively high.”

Committee member Lisa John added that awareness around the needs of women in tough situations had definitely grown.

“I think that the need has always been there, but the awareness has increased,” she said.

“So the more people are aware, more people contribute, more people know where to go to ask for help, and that's the whole aim of the Share the Dignity — to help people in need, especially people who menstruate.”

As the bags may go to adult women, teenage girls or mothers with babies, their contents can vary, but each must still include essential items.

Essential items include:

Once the essential items are checked off the list, other items specific to women, teenagers or mums with bubs can be added to fill the bags.

People are asked not to pack pharmaceutical items such as condoms, throat lozenges, paracetamol and more.

Food, drinks, razors, knives or scissors are also unable to be sent to recipients.

Once bags are filled, they can be dropped off to the nearest Bunnings Warehouse store until Sunday, November 30.

Each bag is collected and sorted by the committee before being collected by charities and community organisations to be distributed before Christmas.

For a comprehensive list of items that can be included in each bag, visit tinyurl.com/2vmycsdm