Three University of Evansville students are hoping to make a difference in female hygiene for low income and homeless women in Evansville.
Jampon – jamming out for pads and tampons – will collect boxes of tampons, pads, or liners as an admission fee and then donate what’s gathered towards the local Young Women’s Christian Association.
“The problem of homeless or otherwise underprivileged women not being able to afford sanitary products has just bothered me for a really long time,” said Alexandra Curren.
After studying abroad, Curren gained a global perspective of the issue.
“And especially we went abroad then last year and seeing a lot of homeless people in big cities abroad made me realize how wide a scope this problem is and how many women this effects,” Curren said. “And the fact that tampons are taxed as a luxury product and things like that just started to rub me the wrong way and we wanted to do something about it.”
The 2016 Annual Homeless Assessment Report conducted by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found just more than 500,000 people were recorded as homeless and of that number 40 percent were women.
Classmates Gina DeLise and Sierra Miller came together with Curren to try to make a difference on the local level.
“It was just a way that – we’re all theatre majors, and so we were thinking of ways to use our skill sets and the people we knew that were talented as a means to fundraise and collect donations,” said DeLise.
The event will showcase live music, art and baked goods, and 100 percent of the money will go to the YWCA.
“The people that we’ve reached out to have offered to create a piece or to sell a piece that they’ve already done of a drawing, or a painting, or photography or jewelry – straight to the organization as well,” Miller said. “Things that operate along the theme of the entire event, ‘Acts that Power and Inspire Women.’ And so we love that they were willing to contribute.”
All are three women are juniors and are already looking to bring back the event next year.
“We certainly would like to do it next year,” said Curren.
However, she doesn’t see it stopping then.
“After that we will have graduated from UE so it could be a conversation of passing it down to some underclassman or maybe if we all ended up in the same place after graduation maybe we continue it there or maybe both,” Curren said. “But we’re hoping it can be an ongoing thing.”
Jampon will take place Saturday Jan. 27 at 7:30 p.m. in Eykamp Hall on the UE campus.