BANGOR — April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and one Bangor business is collecting supplies all month long to help support survivors.
Throughout April, tattoo studio Diversified Ink is holding a hygiene drive to collect donations of necessities like toothbrushes and phone chargers for Rape Response Services — a Penquis subsidiary helping survivors in Penobscot and Piscataquis counties.
“What we know is that when someone has experienced a traumatic event like sexual violence, they struggle to meet their basic needs. And if you can’t meet your basic needs you can’t help,” said Emily Jaye, advocate for Rape Response Services. “So, one way we as advocates can show up for people is by helping them meet those basic needs at no cost to them.”
This is the third year the tattoo studio has teamed up with Rape Response Services.
“It’s important to us to be able to help the community in this way,” said Jason Drake, manager of Diversified Ink. “I think we all need to get involved. This is a problem, and these people need our help. It’s important to give back to the community.”
Diversified Ink is offering a $10 coupon for services for people who donate throughout March.
Some of the suggested donations include:
- Universal phone chargers & charging blocks
- Deodorant
- Travel-size tissue packs
- Wet wipes/makeup remover
- Fidget toys/Worry Stones
- Travel/hotel size toiletries
- Nail files/clippers
- First aid supplies (band aids, antibiotic ointment, etc.)
“We’re looking for travel-sized hygiene products, phone chargers,” said Drake. “Things to make them feel a little bit more like themselves after a traumatic experience.”
To support the cause, you can drop off personal care products and other items at Diversified Ink on 51 Washington Street in Bangor, between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.
“It’s so important because they’re the things you don’t think about when you’re going through something like this,” said Jaye. “Being able to brush your teeth, having a charger to call your loved ones, having a makeup wipe to feel normal again in something that is so not normal.”
Jaye said the number of sexual assault survivors that Rape Response Services supports in Maine has grown since 2020, but sexual violence is often under-reported.
“It’s really hard to give statistics because what we know is that sexual assault is so underreported,” said Jaye. “But we support so many survivors every year and that number has only continued to grow since 2020.”
If you or someone you know has been impacted by sexual violence, you can call the 24/7 sexual assault helpline at 1-800-871-7741 or visit rrsonline.org.
