For the first time, Bank of America has extended its donation program for women and family shelters into the Inland Empire, donating over 600 self-care kits to shelters in Riverside County.
As the pandemic continues, women and family shelters across Riverside County and the country face ongoing challenges such as increased demand for their services and rising operating costs. Victims of domestic violence often must flee their homes with little or nothing, forcing them to live without basic necessities like undergarments and feminine hygiene products. In fact, the most-needed items in Inland Empire domestic violence shelters are basic necessities such as tampons and sanitary pads, yet few people think to donate these essential products, forcing many shelter residents to improvise each month.
As part of Women’s History Month, a volunteer project by employees at Bank of America collects, assembles, and delivers these much-needed items along with other basic necessities to victims of domestic violence. This program has been running for the past three years. And this year, more than 600 care kits containing a record 23,000 items (tampons, pads, deodorant, bras, Chapstick, toothbrushes, toothpaste and underwear), were delivered on Thursday, March 31, to shelters in six Southern California communities including the Riverside shelter operated by the Riverside County Coalition for Alternatives to Domestic Violence.
Jeimy Oritz, a Business Banking vice president for Bank of America in Ontario, heard about the past donations in the Central Valley and worked to expand the donations into Riverside County.
Since the bank program began in 2020, the number of items donated has tripled from 7,500 to 23,000.
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