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Local woman turns hobby into full-time service project; continues to collect bras, tampons
WISH ^ | January 24, 2017 | Nina Criscuolo

Posted on 01/24/2017 12:25:34 PM PST by digger48

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — One year ago, we introduced you to an Indianapolis woman with a goal to collect as many bras as possible. It wasn’t a weird obsession, it was an effort to make sure all Hoosier women had the proper undergarments, even those who couldn’t afford them. Since then, she’s gathered more than 10,000 bras and her work has expanded to include menstrual items as well.

“Can you imagine what it would be like if you didn’t have a bra that fit you for a job interview or if you had your period and you didn’t have access to a pad or a tampon?”

It’s a message Rachael Heger said quickly that resonated with not only women in Indianapolis, but is spreading across the country.

“This has exploded,” Heger said.

10,000 bras have been donated to organizations and 40,000 pads and tampons too. Within just months of starting a local chapter, Heger is now a leader in the international organization of Support the Girls.

ORIGINAL STORY: Indy woman collects thousands of bras for the homeless “We collect everything from training bras, nursing bras, mastectomy bras, pretty bras, sports bras, functional bras and I have received bras from brand new training bras up to I believe the biggest size I’ve received to date is an L cup,” Heger said. “Here’s like a J cup bra, this one is actually new with tags.”

The bras first came from neighbors, family, and friends, but now Heger receives them from complete strangers on a daily basis. Her basement, once a play room, is now an office and bra haven.

“There’s lot and lots and lots over here. And then in here, I collect loose pads and tampons as well as full packages, so if people buy a brand that they don’t like or they have some extras left over, go ahead and I take these extras, because so long as they’re individually wrapped, like all of these, they can still be passed on,” Heger said.

It was a hypothetical hobby at the start of 2016, but it’s her life’s work, a full-time service project she says she intends to continue as long as possible.

“I’ve never been so optimistic and so thankful to so many hoosier women,” Heger said.

To learn more about how to donate or even hold a bra drive, visit the Support the Girls – Indianapolis Facebook page.


TOPICS: US: Indiana
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1 posted on 01/24/2017 12:25:34 PM PST by digger48
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To: digger48

What kind of job interview is she talking about where they will ascertain that your bra doesn’t fit and you don’t have a tampon?


2 posted on 01/24/2017 12:28:31 PM PST by Rusty0604 (bc)
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To: digger48

Big deal. I’ve been collecting them since I Was 10.


3 posted on 01/24/2017 12:29:10 PM PST by dp0622 (The only thing an upper crust conservative hates more than a liberal is a middle class conservative)
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To: Rusty0604

Pole Dancer?


4 posted on 01/24/2017 12:29:26 PM PST by Yo-Yo ( Is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
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To: digger48

So, how long will it be before the taxpayers are required to pay for ‘menstrual items’? I am sooooo glad Obama is out, because in Obamaland, a RIGHT is whatever the Left says it is.


5 posted on 01/24/2017 12:30:37 PM PST by originalbuckeye ("In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." - George Orwell)
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To: digger48

Brass tampons?

Oh, never mind...


6 posted on 01/24/2017 12:31:38 PM PST by DoughtyOne (Obama, Clinton, McStain, and Graham, with people like this, who needs enemies?)
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To: digger48
“Can you imagine what it would be like if you didn’t have a bra that fit you for a job interview or if you had your period and you didn’t have access to a pad or a tampon?”

The only caring thing to do is to have these items provided by taxpayers for free!

7 posted on 01/24/2017 12:31:57 PM PST by Gamecock
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To: digger48

We should be encouraging this type of project. Private citizens doing helpful things without the aid of our tax dollars. Quite honestly, good for her. We should be supporting this woman, not making fun.


8 posted on 01/24/2017 12:32:00 PM PST by thefactor (yes, as a matter of fact, i DID only read the excerpt)
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To: digger48

She is doing bloody good work.


9 posted on 01/24/2017 12:35:40 PM PST by Timpanagos1
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To: digger48

This is not a service project. It’s OCD with a good public relations department.

CC


10 posted on 01/24/2017 12:36:08 PM PST by Celtic Conservative (CC: purveyor of cryptic, snarky posts since December, 2000..)
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To: thefactor

You have a point. But don’t be surprised if some government do gooder thinks it can be done better by government, with all the regulations and taxpayer funds. A long time ago charities took care of indigent health care.


11 posted on 01/24/2017 12:38:05 PM PST by Rusty0604 (bc)
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To: digger48

Well, unlike the pink-hatted nutjobs down on the National Mall, she’s doing something to actually HELP women.


12 posted on 01/24/2017 12:41:11 PM PST by Buckeye McFrog
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To: digger48

Because those evil Republicans want to take them away from women?


13 posted on 01/24/2017 12:41:44 PM PST by I want the USA back (The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those who speak it. Orwell.)
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To: Rusty0604; SaveFerris; PROCON; FredZarguna; mylife; Lil Flower; Corky Ramirez; CopperTop; ...
What kind of job interview is she talking about where they will ascertain that your bra doesn’t fit and you don’t have a tampon?

Bra model at E.D. Granmont?

Tampon model?

14 posted on 01/24/2017 12:43:06 PM PST by Gamecock
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To: Buckeye McFrog

Someone was complaining on an earlier thread about all of the doom and gloom articles here, so I thought I’d offer up something a bit more uplifting.


15 posted on 01/24/2017 12:46:42 PM PST by digger48
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To: thefactor

You make a great point. I’m with you on that.

But I seriously wonder how big a problem is this? Is there really an epidemic of braless women? Or are they homebound because of it? I’m not seeing it - and I don’t mean that as a joke.


16 posted on 01/24/2017 12:50:11 PM PST by generally ( Don't be stupid. We have politicians for that.)
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To: digger48

I think it’s a very kind thing to do.


17 posted on 01/24/2017 12:51:11 PM PST by Tax-chick ("The feelings business is very profitable, and the thinkings business is not.")
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To: Rusty0604

Give this lady a break. She’s trying to do a good deed. Wish more people would find something they think needs to be fixed and work on fixing it.

Here’s my two cents. First, I don’t think taxpayers should pay for people’s undergarments or hygiene supplies. Women have been wearing bras for over a hundred years and menstruating even longer. Any woman who can’t afford personal hygiene supplies needs to reexamine her priorities (hair, nails, cable television, etc.). However, I would hope any lady who really is THAT destitute would have a friend to go to, or even her doctor!!!

As for the problems associated with these during a job interview, if you can’t figure out the problem a woman would have sans tampon/napkin, then you need to go back to Health Class 101. I had a seventh grader last year who had a problem (I had to call her mom and explain) and she’d have unexpected periods right in class...all over the chair, soaking through her pants. So, YES, that could be a problem on an interview.

Now, onto bras. So, aside from some great discomfort and looking really crummy in one’s clothing, that’s about it. And one wants to look and feel their best on an interview.

Over and out.


18 posted on 01/24/2017 12:52:40 PM PST by Paved Paradise
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To: thefactor
We should be encouraging this type of project. Private citizens doing helpful things without the aid of our tax dollars. Quite honestly, good for her. We should be supporting this woman, not making fun.


19 posted on 01/24/2017 12:54:19 PM PST by Company Man (Best President evah!)
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To: generally

Bras wear out, just like any other piece of clothing. Women who are homeless, in battered-women’s shelter, or unemployed might not be able to afford a new bra. They’re expensive, compared to a shirt. People collect other kinds of clothing for the needy: why not bras. And people donate food and other consumable items for the poor: why not sanitary supplies?


20 posted on 01/24/2017 12:55:07 PM PST by Tax-chick ("The feelings business is very profitable, and the thinkings business is not.")
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