 FEBRUARY 13 • 2020 | 23

W

hile at a hair 
salon, 32-year-old 
Samantha Foon 
flipped through a magazine. 
An article caught her atten-
tion: a story about I Support 
the Girls, an international 
nonprofit that collects and 
distributes essential items for 
women in need, including 
bras, underwear and men-
strual hygiene products.
“I remembered I had a 
drawer of 20 bras at my par-
ents’
 house, which has prob-
ably been sitting there for 10 
years,” the Bloomfield Hills 
resident said. 
She says she figured if she 
had bras she wasn’
t wearing, 
others must, too. 
After partnering with her 
sister-in-law Lacey Foon, 32, 
also of Bloomfield Hills, the 
two decided to host their own 
drive. They contacted the 

Detroit chapter of I Support 
the Girls, one of more than 
50 affiliate chapters across the 
world, and connected with a 
local representative.
“I don’
t think she realized 
what [was] coming her way,” 
Samantha Foon said with a 
laugh.
Not even two weeks after 
their drive began on Jan. 9, 
the Foons collected more 
than 11,000 items for I 
Support the Girls. The total 
included 525 bras, 600 pairs 
of underwear and more than 
10,000 feminine hygiene 
products. 
I Support the Girls accepts 
donations from individual to 
corporate levels. The Detroit 
chapter has donated almost 
20,000 bras and more than 
250,000 menstrual products 
to the area since launching in 
July 2016. While some recipi-

ent organizations only accept 
new bras, many accept gently 
used laundered bras without 
tears, rips or clasp problems.
“One of our goals is to 
get those bras back out into 
the community where they 
can make a big impact on 
women’
s day-to-day lives,” 
said Rebekah Page-Gourley, 
volunteer Detroit Affiliate 
Director for I Support the 
Girls.
For the Foons, it started 
with an email blast to about 
100 women in the local 
community. Then the sisters-
in-law shared their drive on 
Instagram. 
“It opened the floodgates 
to not just our immediate 
friends, but friends in other 
cities,” Lacey Foon said. “It 
went from a hundred close 
people to at least a thousand. 
It opened up to men who 
were interested in helping, 
and parents of our friends.”
The drive ran through 
Jan. 24. It also included an 
Amazon Wish List where 
donors could purchase items 
to be sent directly to the 
Foons’
 homes. The Amazon 
link alone raised more than 
$1,300 in donations.

Boxes of items arrived on 
their front steps every day. 
“As soon as we think we’
ve 
tapped out all of our connec-
tions, someone else gets inter-
ested,” Lacey Foon said. “It’
s a 
huge testament to the power 
of social media in terms of 
charity.”
The Foons sought to 
include a wide range of sizes 
and fits for products in an 
effort to be inclusive. 
Many of the Foons’
 donors 
are members of the Jewish 
community. They received 
support from teachers and 
parents at Hillel Day School, 
where Samantha Foon’
s chil-
dren go to school. 
“Once I Support the Girls 
Detroit receives the donated 
items, we contact a number 
of local organizations,” Page-
Gourley explained, “such as 
community centers, street 
outreach groups, domestic 
violence shelters, home-
less shelters, food pantries, 
schools and transitional hous-
ing organizations to deter-
mine where there is a need 
for the various items.”
The best way to get 
involved, the Foons recom-
mend, is to create a drive of 
your own. 
“Tell everyone you know 
because people are so gen-
erous and want to help,” 
Samantha Foon said. “We’
re 
just so amazed at the gener-
osity of everyone. We never 
anticipated a fraction of 
this.” 

Jews in the D

Bras for a Cause

Bloomfi
 eld Hills sisters-in-law collect 
items for women in need.

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Samantha and Lacey 
Foon of Bloomfield Hills 
collected thousands 
of donations for I 
Support The Girls, which 
distributes essential 
items to women in need. 

SAMANTHA FOON

