It’s Mardi Bras time in Richmond.

That’s the program a local ministry is spearheading to collect intimate items for homeless women, including underwear and feminine hygiene products.

Marti Williams, who heads the nonprofit Into the Neighorhood, is leading the effort to aid women who cannot afford such necessities as bras, panties, tampons and sanitary napkins.

This is the second year for Mardi Bras, said Ms. Williams, who operates the ministry with her husband, Louis, out of their home in the 2100 block of Barton Avenue in North Side.

Ms. Williams said she came up with Mardi Bras after talking with a few homeless women. She found that dealing with the monthly menstrual cycle is constantly on their mind because they don’t know where they will get sanitary pads.

As she learned, “supplies are not readily available for women who are homeless or on a low or restricted income. Food stamps and other resources do not cover feminine protection.”

Using her Facebook contacts, Ms. Williams launched Mardi Bras last year and filled a moving storage unit with donations. She came up with the name as a play on Mardi Gras, the big party before Lent.

The second Mardi Bras was held last Tuesday, with supporters arriving with donations at the collection site provided by the Atlee Community Church’s Northminster Campus on Moss Side Avenue.

Into the Neighborhood also is accepting donations to support the program.

Ms. Williams said the items would be distributed through programs that serve the homeless, such as CARITAS, Housing Families First, Home Again, the Daily Planet, Help Somebody, as well as participating churches.

Some of the items also will be sent to the Richmond City Justice Center for distribution to female inmates.

Further information: Intotheneighborhood.org