McFeely’s Coffeehouse got a temporary makeover Tuesday night for all the right reasons.
Pop music wafted out of the dimly lit lounge, welcoming everyone into the “Craft Café.” Some students gathered around tables, laughing and making various winter crafts, while others were getting their nails painted to perfection.
The event brought together multiple campus organizations that promote equality and safety for students. SAFE, which encourages a positive environment for LGBT students, helped in creating rainbow twirlers out of paper plates. The campus feminist organization FREE ran a table for making fabric snow people, while REACT, which promotes education on sexual assault, was in charge of creating giant paper snowflakes.
The event seemed like a normal craft fair, but these students had a bigger cause on their minds.
At the front of the room sat a table piled with donations. Upon reaching the table, it was clear these were not your average clothing or food donations. Instead, the table was filled with bras and packages of tampons, pads and panty-liners with a sign above them that read, “Distributing Dignity.”
Founded in 2012, Distributing Dignity is an organization that believes no woman should have to ration her supply of feminine products or go without a decent bra. It strives to provide disadvantaged women with the most basic of feminine needs, something that many women are forced to live without.
Student Chelsea Ksanznak took the initiative to create her own fundraiser for Distributing Dignity. By turning McFeely’s into the “Craft Café,” she was helping a cause she felt connected to personally.
Once, when exiting a pharmacy, Ksanznak gave money to a woman who, after buying her other necessities, had none left for food.
“She literally ran to Wendy’s. That’s how hungry she was,” Ksanznak said.
After the event, she thought of just how many women face the same challenge every day, and was inspired to make a change.
Ksanznak was invited to the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) 2015 Women’s Undergraduate Conference, an event that teaches leadership skills to young women willing to make a difference. Ksanznak received $100 in grant money from the conference, which she used to create the “Craft Café.”
“I feel very satisfied,” Ksanznak said. “It warmed my heart and I feel fulfilled that I put this together.”
With the help of Ksanznak’s fundraiser, more women will receive the dignity that all females and human beings deserve.
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