Tickets for the Big Red Ball Now on Sale

Grab the reduced ticket price before February 18th for 50 Cents. Period.’s inaugural fundraiser

ATLANTA – Tickets (Available HERE), for the Big Red Ball, an inaugural fundraiser benefitting 50 Cents. Period., are on sale now – act before February 18th to take advantage of the early bird ticket price of $95; after February 18th, tickets will be $115.

Founded in 2010 by Atlantan Lorrie King to aid girls in developing countries who miss a week of school each month due to a lack of sanitary supplies, 50 Cents. Period. helps girls stay in school to eventually graduate, enabling them to overcome the odds of dropping out and entering motherhood too early.

The event will take place at the Old Courthouse on the Square in Decatur on Friday, March 8, 2013, from 7 to 11 p.m.  Lavish bites from Alison Lueker of Atlanta’s Sun in My Belly will highlight a convivial evening of dinner, drinks and dancing with Stiletto Dance Company and music from Atlanta Big Band at one of Decatur’s most lauded venues. Over 200 guests will convene to enjoy Lueker’s distinct dishes as well as the benefit’s signature cocktail, the Big Red Bev, sponsored by Cathead Vodka. Guests are encouraged to “paint the night red” as they dance and mingle at one of 2013’s most important charitable events, sponsored by Team Red in partnership with Sun in My Belly, Cathead Vodka, Stiletto Dance Company, Finders-Keepers and Atlanta Big Band.

50 Cents. Period. is comprised of Team Red, a growing group of volunteers  who believe passionately that women and girls must not have their educations and opportunities curtailed because of their inability to have access to  fundamental supplies during their periods.  Water and sanitary supplies are things women in the developed world often take for granted, but the international business strategists, public health professionals, writers, health practitioners and educators who make up Team Red know that girls in developing countries may miss a week of school – and life – each month.  That week marginalizes them for a lifetime.

Just 50 cents buys a month of sanitary supplies and an uninterrupted education for a deserving young woman. For women with no access to sanitary supplies, 50 cents provides the freedom to simply leave their homes and engage with life. The solution is simple; the impact lasts a lifetime. Team Red’s mission is to raise consciousness and much-needed funds for this important and potentially life-altering issue.

50 Cents. Period. focuses programs and advocacy in underserved, traditionally marginalized communities, addressing issues such as chaupadi - the forced, ritualized exclusion of women during their periods, and providing sanitary products, women's health education workshops and curriculae, clean water and sanitation facilities.  Funds raised from the Big Red Ball will specifically help the Women's Circle, a program within 50 Cents. Period. that seeks to restore and promote mental and physical health in under-served communities by educating, energizing and empowering women through a contextualized, core curriculum. Within the program we identify and train community health workers to extend this mission. The Women’s Circle not only exists in communities in underdeveloped countries, but here at home, in our own community, too.

We believe that when you educate women, you educate families. Fifty cents can change the future!

WHERE 50 CENTS. PERIOD. WORKS

 Metro Atlanta, Ga., USA:

Recognizing that the women and girls of Atlanta’s burgeoning refugee community also contend with cultural taboos surrounding their periods as well as significant levels of poverty, 50 Cents. Period. has  begun a special program called “Period at Home” in partnership with World Relief Atlanta, supplying newly arrived refugee women and girls with a six-month supply of sanitary products. 

Nepal, South Asia:

50 Cents. Period. serves 130 girls at the Nawa Jagriti School on the outskirts of Kathmandu, through the provision of sanitary products and reproductive health education. In September 2011, the charity conducted a field study in the Sindhupalchok region to explore expansion to 11 rural schools, serving an additional 2800 girls. Advocacy and awareness initiatives center on chaupadi, still widely practiced in rural Nepal. In 2013, expansion our efforts are underway to include the Karnali district.

Andhra Pradesh, India:

The program in Andhra Pradesh is so successful that it now has a waiting list. At present, water systems, health education and sanitary product distribution have been installed in four schools, serving approximately 100 girls and 800 students total; with water systems benefitting surrounding communities whose populations range from 300 to 1500. An additional 400 girls have been reached through reproductive health and menstrual hygiene management workshops and sanitary pad distribution in rural Andhra Pradesh and the urban slums of Hyderabad. These workshops are held on an on-going basis.

 Uganda, East Africa:

50 Cents. Period.  has partnered with the Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project (one of CNN’s 2012 Heroes) in Southern Uganda to develop a reproductive health curriculum as well as provide sanitary products for the 200 girls attending their schools at Nyaka and Kutamba. Recently, 50 Cents. Period. was approached by Luhwahwa Youth Development Foundation (LUYODEFO), also located in Southern Uganda, to explore cooperation in their efforts to provide reproductive health education and sustainable, reusable sanitary napkin kits, where demand has surpassed supply, following their successful pilot venture.

 Nicaragua, Latin America:

In November 2012, 50 Cents. Period. will join a delegation of public health and sanitation professionals visiting three communities outside of Managua, Nicaragua, for site assessments and evaluations. Upon completion of due diligence, a strategic plan is being devised for program implementation at selected sites.

In all adopted communities, 50 Cents, Period. adapts its programs contextually and culturally. Before engaging in project work, permission is sought through local leadership, due diligence data gathering and survey work is performed, with program administration conducted at the local level. All stakeholders are involved in the planning, implementation and monitoring processes.

For tickets to the Big Red Ball or for a sponsorship packet or more information , please contact Julie Shaffer at Julie.Shaffer@50centsperiod.org or follow this link: http://bigredball.brownpapertickets.com/