WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES AUGUST 20, 2020 15
Brenda Medina, Jamie Longo and Connie Altamirano donating menstrual hygiene products in Long Island City. Photos by Angélica Acevedo
Ridgewood teen continues donating menstrual
hygiene products to local shelters and pantries
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
AACEVEDO@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
Jamie Longo continued her work
donating menstrual hygiene
products to community members
in need with two events over the
weekend.
Longo partnered with LIC Support,
Muslims Giving Back, and Project
Happy Feet to distribute more than
300 bags with pads and tampons, as
well as other food and product donations,
for unhoused New Yorkers in
Long Island City on Saturday, Aug.
15.
It was Longo’s second in-person
event — the fi rst one was with her
neighborhood’s food pantry, Hungry
Monk, in June. Longo has supplied
eight pantries in Queens and Bushwick,
and has restocked them several
times in the last two months.
“Because 2020 has hit everyone hard,
I think it’s important I continue to do
this now,” Longo said. “I couldn’t have
started in a better time. I’m just trying
to help out the people that I can.”
Longo, a Ridgewood resident, was
joined by her mother and community
activist Connie Altamirano and family
friend Brendalesse Medina, who
helped put together their bags with
about 10 pieces of menstrual hygiene
products.
In the bags, they included a letter
that read, in part, “We just want to
make life a little easier and we hope
this care package will put a smile
on your face. Just know someone is
looking out for you, that we believe
in you, and we hope from here on out
that your lives change for the better.”
Aafi a Chaudhry, a member of LIC
Support mutual aid group, said
they’ve had several events in which
they distribute products and other essentials
for men’s shelters in the past,
and Saturday marked the fi rst for the
women and children shelters.
Longo also volunteered on Sunday
with the COVID Care Neighbor
Network in Woodside. There, they
donated more than 200 care packages
for their food pantry.
“Now those in need will have access
to food, diapers, formula, and menstruation
products — all are essential,”
the CCNN stated.
Longo is also partnering with Project
Smile NYC to uplift impoverished
communities by providing essential
items and products to improve health
and hygiene of those in need.
Longo will soon embark on her
sophomore year at Brooklyn Technical
High School, and although she has
a feeling the school year will take
some adjustment this year, she wants
to keep working to address period
poverty in Queens.
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