Bra-BQ and Women’s Equity
Butler students Caroline Osler and Tori Satchwell recently hosted a fundraiser for the nonprofit organization I Support the Girls. With help from Rachael Heger, the National Director of Affiliate Outreach, they hosted the “Bra-BQ,” successfully receiving donations, while spreading awareness and educating the Butler community.
Grace Reynolds | greynolds@butler.edu
Recently, Butler University hosted a Bra-BQ led by students Caroline Osler and Tori Satchwell. The Bra-BQ raised money for I Support the Girls (ISTG), a national nonprofit aimed to collect feminine products for donation to homeless shelters. I Support the Girls was started seven years ago, in July of 2015, by Dana Marlowe when she did not know what to do with her old bras. Marlowe called a local homeless shelter and learned that bras and feminine hygiene products are the most requested yet least donated items. She turned to Facebook, and soon I Support the Girls was born. The organization has since distributed over 16.5 million products and has 53 U.S. and five global affiliates, one of those being right down the road from Butler University.
Osler and Satchwell first learned about ISTG during the pre-welcome week as a part of Butler’s organization, Ambassadors of Change. Rachael Heger, the National Director of Affiliate Outreach for ISTG, came in to speak on the nonprofit, and Osler and Satchwell immediately felt a calling to help. Osler says, “We both fell in love with the organization and its purpose… we knew we wanted to do some type of fundraiser or event for I Support the Girls, we reached out to Rachael, and that is when she gave us the outline of the Bra-BQ.” The girls tailored the program to fit Butler University yet shortly after the first Butler Bra-BQ was born.
On November 3rd, 60 people gathered to eat Johnson’s Barbeque and help raise money and awareness for I Support the Girls. Their goal to raise monetary donations, and collect undergarments and menstrual hygiene products, was thoroughly achieved. The profits made at the event will be used by ISTG, to purchase undergarments and menstrual hygiene products for those experiencing impoverishment and distress. With products collected and purchased, I Support the Girls will create A.S.H. kits. A.S.H. stands for Aid, Safety, and Hygiene. These are customizable kits that ISTG provides for women around the country to provide relief specific to their personal needs.
I Support the Girls is only five minutes from campus and considering Indianapolis’s homeless population, this issue is extremely relevant to our immediate community. A large population of those experiencing homelessness are women, and frequently people forget to consider the struggles that come with homelessness as a woman. As Osler claims, “I know that I never thought about how one would carry around all their belongings, such as your phone, wallet, ID, etc. without a purse or a fanny pack. I also never considered how unhoused women handle their periods. They don’t have a space where they could store a box of tampons or pads.”
In the future, Osler hopes that Bra-BQ will become a tradition at Butler, expanding in size and impact. Osler is a senior but she is confident that Satchwell will take their relationship with the organization to the next level, leaving a lasting legacy.
If you are looking to get involved with I Support the Girls, you can visit their website at https://isupportthegirls.org/. For products that you would like to donate, bras and feminine hygiene products can be dropped off at 3445 Washington blvd or mailed to:
Support the Girls-Indianapolis
Attn Rachael Heger
PO Box 30249
Indianapolis, IN 46230