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Volunteers taking aim at shame with free incontinence, menstrual products for a third year

Project AIM team has new partners, new storage, and plan to obtain charitable status in 2023
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Project AIM co-founder Tiffany Francis in the new storage space. (Project AIM)

Volunteers with Project AIM are poised to give away everything they have been collecting in the way of incontinence and menstrual products.

It’s all about restoring dignity.

Project AIM was created in Agassiz by co-founders Miel Bernstein and Tiffany Francis at the end of 2020 to offer barrier-free access to a range of period and incontinence products.

“We currently have a great selection of product in our inventory that we are ready to get out to folks in our community,” said Project AIM founder Miel Bernstein.

Heading into their third full year of operations, an array of products are now available for pick up in Agassiz or Chilliwack. Those without transportation can contact them to arrange delivery which could take a week or two.

RELATED: Project AIM: Taking the shame out of basic necessities

Demand started out high and continues to grow. It’s not based on income or gender identity, and believed to be the only service of its kind in the Lower Mainland.

“We can’t keep up,” Bernstein said.

The demand is high because the products are all available free of charge, to anyone who needs them, by contacting them by phone, or by message through the Project Aim Facebook page.

“At Project AIM, we envision a future where people who bleed and people who struggle with incontinence are given both emergency and long-lasting support to tend to their basic human needs and/or chronic medical conditions,” reads the website ‘about’ section. “We believe that barrier-free access should be granted to everyone—regardless of gender identity or economic status.”

They not only have regular products, but also have more sustainable options including reusable pads, liners, underwear and more.

They raised at total of $15,000 in donations in 2022, in their second year, to purchase products, and are setting the bar even higher for 2023, after building a spacious new storage room to hold more product inventory.

The Project AIM Family Fair and Market fundraiser slated for July 22 at Miellie Meadows in Agassiz, has an ambitious goal of more than $20,000 this year.

They’re also seeking registered charity status so they can issue tax receipts and be eligible for grant funding.

So far they’ve partnered with several groups and agencies, from the First Nations Health Authority, and Soroptomists, to community service organizations in several communities, including gender care counselling groups. Some product manufacturers are partners as well, offering wholesale pricing. Agassiz Remedy RX was one of their first partnerships to offer wholesale.

There’s also an awareness raising component to the effort, with Bernstein offering workshops to “take the shame out of the equation.

She offers basic workshops with the help of a stuffed fabric uterus to help with educational aspects.

“The complex intersection of shame and accessibility with issues such as poverty, domestic violence or proximity to marginalized communities, is one we hope to attend to and solve with the help of our local community and your donations,” from the AIM website.

Text Project AIM at 604-889-2235 or send a Facebook message.

Here’s what is currently available for free from Project AIM:

Menstrual cups (two sizes)

Menstrual discs (nixit)

Tampons (with applicator/ without, all sizes, regular/ organic)

Menstrual pads (all sizes and styles) regular, biodegradable organic options

Reusable menstrual underwear hipster and boxer

Reusable menstrual pads liners day and night styles

Incontinence underwear

Incontinence pads

Bedliners

Reusable incontinence underwear

Reusable incontinence pads/liners

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jennifer.feinberg@theprogress.com


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Project AIM co-founder Miel Bernstein in the new storage space full of incontinence and menstrual products. (Project AIM)


Jennifer Feinberg

About the Author: Jennifer Feinberg

I have been a Chilliwack Progress reporter for 20+ years, covering the arts, city hall, as well as Indigenous, and climate change stories.
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