Author: Jerry Higgins
To celebrate Women’s History Month, the Department of Adult Correction’s Women’s Coordinators organized a large collection drive of various toiletries and feminine products and donated several vehicle loads of boxes to The No Woman, No Girl Initiative of Raleigh on March 11.
Spearheaded by Roanoke Rapids Correctional Institution Warden Wendy Hardy, NCDAC Project Manager Cristel Vaughan and Deputy Secretary for Internal Affairs and Intelligence Operations Loris Sutton, items were collected from around the state and brought to Raleigh. There, the items were loaded into vans and trucks and driven to the non-profit resource provider to stock their offices.
“This is our way to give back to the community,” Warden Hardy said.
Added Vaughan: “We really came together as a team. In my 28 years here, I have never seen so much donated. This shows how much we care about others.”
The No Woman, No Girl Initiative was founded by Shaw University graduate Shirnetta Harrell in 2021 to provide minority women and girls who disproportionately find a lack of accessibility and affordability in what they need to survive. The Initiative has shelves of items from toothbrushes and shampoos to feminine products.
Some of the shelves were empty when NCDAC carried in the boxes. They won’t be that way for long.
“We’ve served more than 500 women,” Harrell said. “What you’ve done is show us the power of community. For you to host a drive across the state serves more women and girls in need.”
NCDAC Chief Deputy Secretary Brandeshawn Harris couldn’t stop smiling as she saw box after box carried in by her staff – male and female -- in various divisions. She said this was sparked by Warden Hardy and it took off from there.
“This really shows how big our hearts are,” CDS Harris said. “In two weeks, Wendy, Cristel and Deputy Secretary Sutton organized this and now this will really help the women in the Raleigh area get the necessary items they need.”