Forty volunteers
gathered Tuesday evening, Sept. 24, to sort and pack nearly 26,000 donated
bras for the non-profit organization Free The Girls. Free The Girls operates
inside of Duneland Community Church and holds a "packing party" every month
to sort and process donated bras that arrive from all over the world
including bras collected from bra drives, drop-off locations, and
individuals.
Tuesday's packing
party volunteers included individuals from the Chesterton Rotary and
Kiwanis, Duneland Community Church, and Duneland Resale Shop. Dinner for the
volunteers was provided by Story Point - Chesterton.
Free The Girls
helps women rescued from sex trafficking reintegrate into their communities.
The organization provides opportunities for trafficking survivors to make a
safe and sustainable income selling donated bras in the second-hand apparel
market and also offers needed support services to help these women achieve
their dreams.
Free The Girls
works with partner organizations in Mozambique, El Salvador and Costa Rica,
and provides survivors with initial bra inventories at no cost, along with
budgeting, inventory management and other critical support services to
assist the women as they start their businesses. The organization also
provides low-cost inventory replenishment once businesses are up and
running. Women in the Free The Girls program have used proceeds from their
businesses to buy land, house their families, attend universities and expand
their businesses -- or start new ones.
Bra packing parties
are held once a month. Student led packing parties with groups from
Chesterton High School and Olivet Nazarene University will be held in
October.
Tuesday, November
7, from 5:15-8 p.m. will be the next volunteer packing party. For more
details or to volunteer your group or club contact Joe Juarez, Free The
Girls inventory manager, at joe@freethegirls.org