The drive to make sure girls stay in school has been a positive one.
With only 2.1 million needed to reach the 10 million target, this final push for the Million Comforts campaign is the one that counts the most.
Girls between the ages of 12 and 18 can lose up to a fifth of their high school education.
Why?
Studies show that this is because those living in poverty in both urban and rural areas do not have access to feminine hygiene products, and are too embarrassed to attend school during their menstrual period.
In June, the Dis-Chem Foundation launched the annual Million Comforts campaign to donate millions of sanitary pads to girls who don’t have access to them. Dis-Chem has partnered with shoppers and many of the major feminine hygiene brands to keep the girls in school.
The Dis-Chem Foundation works with Caring4Girls to distribute the pads to schools in rural and underprivileged areas across the country.
Caring4Girls also teaches girls about puberty and menstrual hygiene and aims to debunk social taboos around menstruation.
Million Comforts and Caring4Girls seek to address the twin problem of sanitary towels and social taboos - with your help.
The public can donate sanitary towels until Tuesday to ensure that no girl misses school because of her gender.
Committed to changing the lives of all South Africans, the Dis-Chem Foundation has placed branded drop-off bins in over 130 Dis-Chem pharmacies countrywide.