Stuff The Truck for The Red Basket Project

The Red Basket Project will host a product drive at the three Hy-Vee locations in Dubuque on Saturday, Aug. 14  2021. 

The event, set for 8 a.m. to noon, will encourage shoppers to pick up products for the Dubuque-based nonprofit while in the store and then hand them to volunteers on their way out. 

“We want to make donating as simple as possible,” said Lidia Bertolini, chair of group’s Event Committee. “What better way than to include it as part of your grocery trip?”

Volunteers will staff each Hy-Vee entrance the day of the drive and hand shoppers a list of products – complete with aisle numbers – that would most benefit the nonprofit’s work. A red truck, provided by Runde Auto Group, will be stationed at each Hy-Vee to collect donations.

Established in 2016, The Red Basket Project provides period products to those who need them. Donations of tampons, pads, sanitary wipes, liners, and chocolates are used to create period packs, which include everything needed for one or two menstrual cycles.

The period packs are given to distribution sites such as Resources Unite, the Dubuque Rescue Mission, Crescent Community Health Center, the Dubuque Community School District, the Dubuque Food Pantry, Fountain of Youth, and others, in order to get products to those who need them most. Check out all of their distribution partners here.

“The Red Basket Project was created because meeting the needs of those who menstruate is a profound issue of dignity, human rights and public health,” said Beth Gilbreath, president and co-founder of The Red Basket Project. “Once we became aware of the desperate need in our community, it became impossible to look away, we had to act.”

The Red Basket Project has distributed more than 36,500 period packs over five years.

For more information, or to donate, visit RedBasketProject.com.