After learning about period poverty, the widespread lack of access to menstrual products, sophomore Lillian Carlson co-founded the Girls for Period Collective to raise funds and collect period products for her community.
“Period products don’t always come to mind when we think of things to donate to people less fortunate,” said Carlson. “I thought [the Girls for Period Collective] would be a really great way to get involved, to get my community involved and just do something that was important to me.”
Period poverty refers to the inability to afford menstrual products, lack of education around menstruation and inadequate access to sanitation facilities.
The Girls for Period Collective donates the funds and products from local community drives they hold to The Period Collective, a nonprofit organization based in Chicago.
“[The Period Collective provides] menstrual products to [individuals] and others in need in the Greater Chicago area,” said Ida Melbye, founder and executive director of The Period Collective. “We focus a lot on Cook County because that’s where the need is the biggest.”
The Period Collective distributes more than 600,000 products annually and by the end of this year expects to reach a total of 4 million distributed products since its establishment, Melbye said.
“Anybody [who has] ever had a period can immediately understand how challenging that is and how limiting it is when you don’t have products,” said Melbye. “I felt like I could maybe help.”
One in four girls in the United States has missed school due to lack of access to menstrual products, Melbye said.
According to Carlson, the Girls for Period Collective’s mission is to collect as many funds as we can and to spread the word in general about period poverty.
According to sophomore Jillian Lefteroff, she was inspired to volunteer for the Girls for Period Collective by her sister, who started a personal project for her bat mitzvah to distribute menstrual products to women in need.
“[My sister’s project] made me think a little bit more about the problems that a lot of people have with lack of resources and supplies, especially as a woman, [and it] made me realize that this was a very big problem,” Lefteroff said.
Anyone can join the Girls for Period Collective events by contacting them through the project’s Instagram account and filling out the volunteer Google Form. The Girls for Period Collective plans to start period kit packing parties and continue organizing product drives.
“[The Girls for Period Collective] made me feel really hopeful,” said Carlson. “It’s a bit surprising. I didn’t have super high expectations going into it, and I didn’t know how many people would donate. So it’s been really special to see how much people are willing to give for the cause.”