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Group works to get feminine hygiene products to Ukrainian refugees

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BALTIMORE, Md. — Dana Marlowe stands in the middle of a crowded warehouse in a Baltimore, Maryland suburb surrounded by boxes and donations bins. These days it's hard to keep up with the sheer volumes of packages that seem to be coming in.

Her mission is to get feminine hygiene products over to Ukrainian refugees as quickly as possible.

"We're giving people an easy thing to do to get involved," she said.

Marlowe is the executive director of I Support The Girls, a nonprofit she founded years ago to help women in need during times of natural disasters, or in this case, war.

"We're trying to support the women and girls who have had to flee Ukraine," Marlowe added.

In the midst of a humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, refugees are just trying to survive. Millions of them are women, and countless numbers of them have no access to feminine hygiene products right now. While plenty of monetary aid is flowing to Ukrainian refugees right now, very few organizations
are sending over things like sports bras.

"People scrambling to get out and walking for hours. To have something comfortable in light of how much discomfort they’re experiencing," she said.

With many Americans eager to help Ukrainian refugees, Paige Hanson, chief of cyber safety education at NortonLifeLock, offered some tips to people trying to help.

"We want to make sure you’re giving to a legitimate organization," Hanson said.

Her advice is to call the organization you are donating to first and make sure you can talk to a real person before giving. And when contributing money, use your credit card.

"There are extra layers of financial protection with using a credit card versus a debit card or different form of payment," she said.