The EWU Downtown Gallery is hosting a second annual "Mardi Bras Event." People can donate items to the cause in Cheney at the gallery until Feb 9. They are open Mondays through Fridays from noon – 5 p.m.
The Eastern Washington University Downtown gallery is hosting the Second Annual "Mardi Bras" event. The organization helps the women at Volunteers of America's Hope House and Transitions' Women's Hearth in Spokane.
"We are so pleased to have a larger presence in Spokane County," Mary Reinbold, the development director of Transitions said. "Poverty and homelessness are issue that disproportionately affects women and children in our community. The more we educate our community the more we can support one another."
According to their website, the Women's Hearth is a safe, welcoming community that promotes growth and well-being in body, mind and spirit for women of diverse backgrounds. The Hearth fosters nurturing relationships, encourages self-determination, and advocates for change in systems that oppress women. During 2016, 1,411 women accessed services at the Women's Hearth and visited 15,206 times.
"Of course, the exposure in Cheney is particularly important because of the student interaction," Reinbold said. "Students bring so much to their 'temporary' homes when enrolled at EWU and having them engaged in community issues helps provide a more well-rounded education for the student while providing basic need items that bring dignity to the more than 1,800 homeless women and girls in our community."
People can participate by helping meet women's basic needs by donating bras, underwear and tampons. The gallery is open noon – 5 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays and has a donation box available until Friday, Feb. 9. The building is located at 404 Second St., in the bottom floor of Brewster Hall.
"I was an employee with Transitions from September 2015-17 and currently serve on the Mardi Bra Planning Committee," Brooke Nicholson, the gallery's program assistant said. "When I asked the student docents, Makenzie Ley and Sarah Colerick, if they wanted to be involved, they thought it would be a way to serve vulnerable women in the community and to provide a donation site in the West Plains. Other groups on campus participated last year and intend to this year. It's a way to let the women in our region who are struggling with homelessness know they are not invisible."
The gallery is currently hosting an art exhibit as well that people can browse around when they drop off a donation. The theme is called "A Song of Silence: Embroidered Tapestries of Kyrgyz Nomads" and runs until Feb. 9 as well.
"The best moment last year was seeing the women at the Women's Hearth, a drop in shelter operated by Transitions, receive bra fittings by Breast Intentions and a bra to take away," Nicholson said. "One woman twirled and was so excited to have a new bra."
Grace Pohl can be reached at grace@cheneyfreepress.com.
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