Members of the Edmonds chapter of Days for Girls gathered at the Christian Fellowship in downtown Edmonds on Saturday for the annual International Day of the Girl Sew-a-thon.

“Days for Girls is an international organization with more than 280 chapters worldwide,” said April Haberman, organizer of the Edmonds chapter. “It’s not often talked about, but according to United Nations statistics 2.7 billion girls worldwide do not have access to feminine hygiene supplies. This typically means they stay home from school for five days each month, which equates to between 6 and 8 months of missed education every three years. This is devastating loss of education further locks them into the cycle of poverty, poor health, and loss of personal dignity. Our mission is to do something about this.”

Days for Girls addresses this by making feminine hygiene kits containing washable pads, liners and other supplies to give young girls everything they need to carry on their lives with dignity and not be deprived of opportunity and self-respect. All supplies are hand-made out of colorful, fun, easy-to-maintain fabrics.

“The Sew-a-thon is a worldwide event, and will result in thousands of kits,” said Haberman. “We will then distribute these to girls in need both in the US and around the world.”

Haberman stresses that there’s plenty of opportunity to help, and that ability to sew is not required. Interested person should contact her at april@daysforgirls.org.

— Photos by Larry Vogel