Marissa Rachel Donates 40,000 Tampons for Female Veterans

By Communications and Marketing Intern, Angel Emodi

Who would’ve thought you could donate tampons to the American Red Cross?  It turns out female veterans throughout L.A., and even in the VA Hospital right next to the Red Cross Los Angeles Region Headquarters are always short of tampons! Last month, YouTubers Marissa Rachel and Shanna Lisa donated 40,000 tampons to the Red Cross Los Angeles Region to help support female veterans in need of these and other basic hygiene items.

Marissa Rachel is a popular YouTuber, with over 1.3 million subscribers! She is known for her videos which educate young females about the menstrual cycle and many of her videos include tips for dealing with tampons and pads. Her sister, Shanna Lisa, is a usual guest on Marissa’s channel. Together, they use their strong YouTube presence and voice to spread positive vibes to young women around the world about self-confidence and body awareness.

In all, Tampax donated 1 million tampons to many different influential YouTubers and Bloggers to give to a charity of their choice, and Marissa and Shanna decided to give their 40,000 tampons to the American Red Cross!

As a Communications and Marketing Intern working out of the American Red Cross Los Angeles Region Headquarters this summer, I received the opportunity to meet these YouTube stars and humanitarians in person!  It was such a pleasure that I decided to dedicate this article to their good work! I was tremendously moved by the reason Marissa Rachel and Shanna Lisa chose to donate to the American Red Cross.  It turns out, when Marissa and Shanna were just young girls, the American Red Cross helped them get back on their feet after their own home burned down and they lost everything. That is why they decided to give back to the American Red Cross to help female veterans!  They explained how much the compassion and assistance from Red Cross volunteers meant to their family after experiencing a home fire in this Twitter interview.

In general, the impact the Red Cross has made in alleviating human suffering is astonishing. They continuously change lives, and it’s inspirational that just over 90% of the work done by the American Red Cross is done by volunteers! I am so honored to help share their mission during my summer internship. Thank you Marissa Rachel and Shanna Lisa for being good Samaritans, and thank you American Red Cross for giving them, and me, the opportunity to give back!

If you’d like to learn more about how you can donate to the American Red Cross, click here.

Angel Emodi will be in 11^th grade at Hawthorne Math and Science Academy. She enjoys playing volleyball and her professional goals include attending Medical School to become a Pediatrician. This is Angel’s first year interning with the American Red Cross.