INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Feb. 1, 2016) – A key item of clothing is being collected for Indy’s homeless women. More than 1,000 bras have been collected and donated in just one month. One very special Hoosier is leading the charge, but credits the community with giving her project a boost.
Rachael Heger turns 35 in December. Instead of presents, she’s asking for bras.
“I probably have over a thousand at this point,” said Heger, as she sorts through the piles of bras that have been donated by fellow Hoosiers.
Her mission since January: collect and donate 3,500 bras for homeless women. The deadline is her birthday, 11 months away.
“3,500 bras sounds like a lot of bras and it feels like a lot of bras, but the need is much greater than that,” said Heger, who adds that her mission began with an article she read about a woman who did the same thing in Washington, D.C. “It just seemed like something that I could do here.”
So she did. Heger started a Facebook page, calling for new or gently used bras. The next day, 99 bras showed up on her doorstep.
“You can see that there is a large supply and a large demand,” said Heger. “I see that my role is just joining the supply and demand together.”
Hundreds of donations are en route to Horizon House, and have already been made to Dayspring Center and Project Home Indy, an organization for teen mothers.
“It will help ensure proper hygiene. It will ensure proper health,” said Lakshmi Hasanadka, the executive director of Project Home Indy. “It will make a huge difference in their lives.”
As for Heger, she’s touched that she’s able to bring awareness to something that tends to stay under wraps.
“I want to make sure that every woman has as much confidence and dignity as they can have with a bra that fits,” said Heger.
BY Carson Quinn
