Students of Comm 456, Leadership and Social Change, came together for a Community Service learning project that will aid female Syrian refugees, providing them with sanitary napkins, diapers and clothing.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pads is a campaign created by CSUSM students Dolores Esparragoza, Lexy Quezada, Rachel Smith and Jasmine Demers to bring awareness of the struggles refugees face in acquiring products to meet their basic hygienic needs.

“We want all women to stand in solidarity with one another despite our differences. We are women helping women because periods suck for everyone, including refugees,” said Jasmine Demers, Managing Editor at The Cougar Chronicle and member of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pads campaign. “With everything that these women have to worry about, we don’t want them to also have to wonder how they will take care of themselves.”

Professor of Comm 456, Dr. Fredi Avalos, is working with an organization called Roads of Success, a southern California based non-profit organization striving to advance human rights in the Middle East and advance their quality of life.

“Some of us students jumped immediately at the thought of helping with this amazing cause,” said Demers. “… Roads of Success, with the help of this campaign, will be sending a huge container to Syrian refugees which will include women’s hygiene products, jackets, wipes/diapers, underwear, etc.”

Members of the campaign will be collecting products throughout the campus and reaching out to student groups to help in the cause through Dec. 15. Boxes will be placed in different areas around campus where students, faculty and staff can drop off their donations.

The organizers aim to ship the 40 foot container filled with supplies in time for the holidays.

“It is important to remember that these refugees are people who have been displaced for multiple reasons,” said Dolores Esparragoza, an organizer of the campaign. “We are so quick to donate food and clothes but forget about gender-based needs… The least we can do is offer our sisters a way to deal with their periods with dignity.”

On Dec. 10 during Uhour, the members of the campaign will host an event dedicated to collecting donations and informing students about the needs of refugees. There will be prizes for the person and/or student organization who donates the most products toward the cause.

“This is an amazing opportunity for students to reach out to the international community and do something to give back before the semester ends,” said Demers. “We know that the CSUSM student body is capable of great things and we can’t wait to see the impact that we all can make as a united community.”

For more information about the campaign, follow on social media (Facebook: Sisterhood of the Traveling Pads, Twitter: @travelingpads, Instagram: @travelingpads). You can also email [email protected] or visit www.roadsofsuccess.com.