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Seine-Saint-Denis: during the crisis, the Red Cross doubled its production of hygiene kits for the most deprived

2021-07-01T19:35:33.189Z


For 10 years, the association has collaborated with the international group Essity, specializing in toiletries, to manufacture ki


With a seasoned gesture, Khardiatou fills each kit with sanitary napkins, shampoos and other toiletries in the premises of the Red Cross Insertion in Pantin (Seine-Saint-Denis).

"I do it quickly now", smiles the young woman, who assembles these products for the most deprived for a year.

Since 2011, the association has worked with the company Essity, specializing in toiletries, to promote access to hygiene for all.

The company, headquartered in Stockholm, sells to 150 countries around the world.

In June, the French Red Cross and the international group renewed their partnership to manufacture more than 225,000 kits for the most vulnerable over the next three years.

A form translated into six languages

In ten years, this collaboration has enabled the assembly of a million hygiene kits.

Funded 100% by Essity, these little white kits are distributed by the volunteers and employees of the Red Cross during the patrols.

Each consists of a toothbrush, toothpaste, razor, handkerchiefs, a small comb etc.

Products, adapted according to gender, which allow homeless people to regain a sense of dignity and self-esteem.

“The volunteers give them out with a hygiene awareness form translated into six languages.

This helps them to engage in dialogue with the beneficiaries, ”slips a member of the Red Cross.

Wednesday June 17th.

About ten employees fill the hygiene kits in the premises of the Red Cross Insertion in Pantin (Seine-Saint-Denis) Marie Briand-Locu

All the kits are packed in a large 6,000 m² warehouse located in an industrial area in Pantin. Each week, ten Red Cross employees produce 2,500. But the health crisis has increased demand. “People have found themselves in difficulty because of the pandemic. Our teams have therefore been strengthened. We had to add masks and hydroalcoholic gel in addition. Normally, 100,000 kits are produced a year. During this period, we had to do 150,000 more. But they were smaller and more specific to Covid (Editor's note: with gel, mask, etc.), ”explains Vianney Prouvost, director of the logistics platform of the Red Cross.

For its part, the Essity company made additional donations.

“We distributed 1 million more products which benefited more than 100,000 people,” adds Marie-Claire Boslowsky, president of Essity France.

Kits assembled by people in reintegration

For 3 years, this partnership has been accompanied by an integration program.

Each year, ten people coming out of long-term unemployment are employed by the Red Cross to fill out the kits.

In total, 34 inhabitants benefited from this course and 60% of them found training or a job at the end of this two-year mission.

“In the end, for example, they can find a job as an order picker in logistics warehouses.

But it also opens up more generalist positions for them.

We have a beneficiary who is completing her nursing assistant internship and another who has passed her VTC license.

Seine-Saint-Denis is an area of ​​full employment in all that is logistics.

There is an enormous expectation on the drivers, the receivers, etc ... ”, underlines Vianney Prouvost.

Khardiatou filled in the small kits intended for the most disadvantaged.

Marie Briand-Locu

Before arriving in the warehouse, Khardiatou experienced a period of inactivity for 2 years. This shy single mom has been working here for a year. “It did me good to find a job. I even evolved in my functions. Before, I assembled the products and I am now an order picker, enthuses the young woman, a resident of Montreuil of Senegalese origin. And then, I am happy to tell myself that I am working for a good cause by helping other people. "

Source: leparis

All news articles on 2021-07-01

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