“When people think of donations,” said Erin Sue, public relations coordinator at ENVIE Intimates, “they think of a financial amount or they think to donate food, but a lot of people forget about the basics like body products and intimate apparel. “We’re donating a quality product that every woman needs.”
ENVIE Intimates, located on King Street in Kitchener, has decided to roll up their sleeves, or rather, un-hook their bras, and give back to the community through intimate apparel bra donation for every $100 purchase in store or online.
For the month of September, ENVIE intimates will be donating bras to Women’s Crisis Services (WCS) of Waterloo Region.
“We just thought that since we have a lot of stuff to give, we should do it since we’re in the position to,” Sue said. “It’s really based on WCS of Waterloo Region. They’re such a phenomenal organization and they give so much back to those in our community, so we decided it was our time to give back.”
A selection of bras in all colours and sizes has been selected to be donated at the end of the month at the ENVIE location in Kitchener.
“Size can be a factor,” Sue said. “But what we’re doing is we have a variety of sizes and shapes and we’re just going to select a handful from each to donate.”
The $100 purchase requirement, necessary before the donation can be made might seem like a high number to some, but Sue assures customers that it’s actually quite reasonable.
“We really do try to provide a range of bras that are affordable to every woman of every price bracket,” Sue said. “Most of our bras range anywhere from $30 to just over $100. So if a woman has a bra in hand, we’ll promote maybe buying the matching underwear or something from our body collection, just to bump that number up.”
Earlier this year, ENVIE did attempt a donation of slightly used or lightly worn bras to give to WCS, but wasn’t as impressed with the result.
“You know how sometimes you buy a bra and when you try it on it doesn’t really fit? Before, you could bring it in and we could donate this for you. But this time we really wanted to donate something that was brand new, something beautiful and special. And it’s been going really well,” said Sue.
The ENVIE Intimates website quoted Margaret Bauer Fund, development manager at Women’s Crisis Services as saying, “Without continued support from companies like ENVIE Intimates, we would not be able to provide the support and guidance we offer women and children as they flee domestic violence and start living a life without violence, a life we all deserve.”
“I’d say WCS thinks the idea is great,” Sue said happily. “As I said before, a lot of people don’t think to give intimate apparel or the basics, so they’re really excited in the fact that we’re giving a quality product that every woman needs.” She continued to say that WCS, “gives back to so many women and children in the area. This is something that is really beneficial to them— to have those items of stock to give.”
“We’re really excited to have this partnership,” Sue said. “We’re very new to the community— coming up on our one year anniversary in November and we thought it would be important to be more involved in the community, especially with women’s issues.”
In the future, ENVIE hopes to work with other organizations in order to raise awareness for a variety of women’s issues. Bra donations will continue until Friday Sept. 30, when the total number of bras donated will be released.
