Xodus Carnival lends a helping hand to end period poverty

Carnival in Jamaica has come to an end. But, Xodus Carnival continues to accelerate operations, placing focus on giving back to the community. Their latest endeavour involves partnering with the HerFlow Foundation for a community outreach initiative aimed at directly benefiting women.

It is often said that ‘Carnival is Woman’, which is proven by the fact that over 70 per cent of Xodus’ revellers are women. This led the team to join hands in support of the period poverty initiative, making a significant impact on the ongoing campaign.

Shanique Hayden, marketing manager at Xodus Carnival, shared that, “For Women’s History Month we wanted to focus on an initiative that’s directly beneficial to women, therefore we decided to give our support to the ‘End Period Poverty’ campaign. We reached out to HerFlow Foundation because we saw and admired the work that they are doing in this space, and their ability to reach girls all across the island. This initiative saw us putting out a call to all our revellers inviting them to donate menstrual products at our showroom, so in the month of March we were able to collect over 1,000 packs of sanitary items.”

In addition to the donations, Xodus also made a donation of $100,000 worth of menstrual products. Joining in on the initiative, Xodus Carnival’s sponsor, Cari-Med, through Kirk Distributors, matched Xodus’ donation with $100,000 worth of menstrual products from its ‘Confidence’ brand.

“The harsh reality is that many of our women aren’t in a position where they can afford a month or two supply of pads. Through our efforts, we hope to lessen the disparity that exists, while we work towards a more inclusive future for our women. We will continue working with HerFlow to provide more assistance where we can, and we’re encouraging our other partners and supporters to also contribute to this very worthy cause if they can,” Hayden shared.

The Xodus team facilitated the handover of the donations on Wednesday at their showroom to the founder and Executive Director of HerFlow Foundation, Shelly-Ann Weeks, who was on hand to receive them, with immense gratitude. “HerFlow Foundation is truly grateful to the Xodus Team for this generous donation. We get requests from schools daily asking for support because more students are not able to manage their periods because of period poverty. It is support like this that made it possible for us to donate over 8 million products since HerFlow’s inception to Jamaican public schools, prisons, community organisations, gov’t run homes and individuals. Thanks to everyone who participated in this drive and a special big-up to Cari-Med for their generosity as well. Together, we can permanently end period poverty so every Jamaican can have dignified periods.”