Monday 18 January 2016

Project Uplift: Bra Drive Wrap Up

Thanks for all the support ladies!

The bra drive I was running for Project Uplift officially ends today, being my 30th birthday and the last day I can work towards my Olave Challenge.

As of 9am, I currently have the following:
  • 122 bras
  • 6 nursing bras
  • 1 pair of board shorts
  • 10 pairs of new underwear
  • 6 pairs of socks
I am delighted at the amount of bras donated, I had only expected to collect around 30, so this number blew me out of the water! Many of the bras came from women who I did not know and had 'heard the word' from Guiding friends. All of the bras donated were in good condition and have been sorted and ready to be transported to the transport company which will take them to the next destination.

Following on from my bra drive, I have decided to be a drop off point for Project Uplift. The current drop off points in South Australia are in Mt Gambier and two other addresses in Adelaide, so I am hoping this will be helpful.

Project Uplift transports bras to women in the Asia-Pacific region. If you would like your bras to be donated on a more local level, I believe Essentials 4 Women SA are supplying new bras to homeless women. Another group, Bras for Bali, also collect bras to go to Bali, and are looking for people to help transport them. If you're looking for a community challenge, this might be an idea for you.

In terms of a challenge, running a bra drive has had the following ups and downs:
  • many people were keen to spread the word, often thanks to their social media
  • some friends collected bras in their workplaces or from their Guide units for me
  • I had attempted to set up an extra location for drop offs, but didn't receive a response, and didn't follow it up. This could have been a really good option for people
  • my Guide unit, Plympton/Kurralta Park collected a large amount of bras quite easily by using their social media tools and reminding Guides and adults about it
  • logistically, it was tricky to collect some donations, sometimes donors had to rely on someone else to pass on their donations, some of which are yet to be passed along my way. Others wold have been happy to donate but my location was too hard to get to
  • the Project Uplift website had many great tools to help assist on running a large bra drive, including posters and information to pass on
  • I started the bra drive just before my daughter was born, so sometimes I have been a bit distracted, and probably would have herded the would be bra donations that were located too far away to drive to, but having a baby has changed my priorities a bit so I have had to rely on the kindness of others sending the bras my way 
  • A $10 donation sends 100 bras to their donation, which I hadn't budgeted for, so I used our recycling money towards this.
In conclusion, thanks to everyone who has donated, or yet to donate bras to this really special cause! I am excited to be able to give a large donation of lightly loved bras to the project.

No comments:

Post a Comment