As it has for nearly a year, this Saturday the Loveland nonprofit Grace Upon Grace Project will distribute diapers, menstrual products and other hygiene items for free to women and children in need.
Emily Jorgensen — the group’s founder and one of three board members along with Heather Williams and Sarah Monares — said the “Market Distribution Days” connect 45 to 50 needy households with about 5,000 diapers, 10,000 wipes and 1,800-2,000 menstrual items each month.
“People think we’re a very safe place to come to and share their story and know there will be no judgment,” she said. “I’m amazed at what three individual women have been able to accomplish.”
The events began through a partnership with Loveland’s Community Kitchen but have since moved to the parking lot of Jorgensen Laboratories.
After coordinating a “Fill the Truck” event to help victims of 2017’s Hurricane Harvey, Jorgensen said she was inspired to distribute goods locally when she was unable to access menstrual products on a cruise to Greece in 2019.
That fall, the group began collecting donations to give away during its first Market Distribution Day in February 2020. The partnership with the Community Kitchen allowed them to reach locals in need, but Williams said the arrival of COVID-19 brought the distributions to a “full stop.”
“They had to shut their doors to us, so that was no longer an option,” she said.
After struggling to find a new space and doing their best to transport goods to individuals using volunteers, in September, they were able to restart the distributions out of the parking lot of Jorgensen Laboratories.
“Because of that, it was actually a silver lining and a blessing, because we went from serving a small number of people … to serving more people with larger quantities,” Williams said. “What happened was more people in the community started donating money, and their time to volunteer, and products, and it was kind of this magical thing that happened because of COVID.”
Clients are now asked to preregister before showing up to the Market Distribution Days because of the rise in demand that the group has seen since March, she said.
Jorgensen said that the majority of items have been donated by individuals, and the group counts about 15 volunteers. One donor recently rented Grace Upon Grace a space at a local self-storage center for year, which will allow Jorgensen to move the boxes of donated hygiene products out of her basement.
“It’s a huge step forward for us,” Jorgensen said. “This will give us the opportunity to have more products in storage and also allow more volunteers.”
Organizations such as Jorgensen Laboratories, Brown Transfer Co., Edge Mortgage and Bank of Colorado have also supported the nonprofit’s distribution days and their Rise from the Ashes program to aid victims of the 2020 Colorado wildfires. Jorgensen said they also recently received a $5,000 grant through the Women’s Fund of Weld County.
While registration for Saturday’s event has closed, Jorgensen said interested women and families are still welcome to contact the organization. Contact and registration information is available on the project’s website, www.graceupongraceproject.org, and its Facebook page, www.facebook.com/graceupongraceproject.
“We just want to get these products out to people,” Jorgensen said.
The Link LonkJanuary 08, 2021 at 12:17PM
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Loveland’s Grace Upon Grace Project sustains families in need with diapers and hygiene products - Loveland Reporter-Herald
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