Gael’s Physiotherapy Students Spread Love on Valentine’s Day

| 14 February 2018 | 306 views

The month of February is a time of love and provides an opportunity to tell those in our lives how much they mean to us. The month of February also includes several important days of recognition: International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation on February 6, International Day of Women and Girls in Science on February 11, World day of Social Justice on February 20, and International Mother Language Day on February 21[1]. While the principles embodied by these days can be honoured in our daily lives, special dates of recognition provide an opportunity to draw attention to important issues and help enable women and young girls to lead safe and fulfilled lives.

To bring this awareness and positive change to our local community, Gael’s Physiotherapy students in the graduating class of 2019 launched a campaign to collect feminine hygiene products for women at a local Kingston shelter, Interval House. The campaign formed a part of the annual Valentine’s Day Challenge hosted by the Women’s Health Division of the Canadian Physiotherapy Association (CPA).

Kingston Interval House is an emergency shelter and housing facility for women and children who have experienced violence. This donation will help Interval House in providing care and comfort to their clients.

So far, over 500 individual supplies have been donated by the PT 2019 class! The results of the class’ efforts were enhanced by a generous donation from Procter & Gamble, specifically from P&G’s Always manufacturing site in Belleville, ON.

Student organizers Kaitlin Proksch and Avery Michels would like to thank the physiotherapy class of 2019 and the School’s staff for their generous donations and support throughout the campaign.

Although the main fundraising event took place in November 2017, donations are still being received and will be included in the mass donation to the shelter in February.

It is never too late to donate! If you are interested in making a donation, please contact the Kingston Interval House for more information about what supplies they currently require: http://kingstonintervalhouse.com/

[1] http://www.un.org/en/sections/observances/international-days/

School of Rehabilitation Therapy