The Flow Initiative – a national organization dedicated to addressing period poverty and achieving menstrual equity – celebrates one million product donations on International Women’s Day. The New Jersey-based organization achieved the milestone over the weekend when more than 20,000 products were donated to survivors of the Turkey-Syria Earthquake. This follows ongoing product donations and distribution from The Flow Initiative to schools, libraries, corporations, domestic abuse shelters, and global organizations.
Founded by Eiko La Boria, The Flow Initiative supports women, girls, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. To accelerate organizational goals, The Flow Initiative partnered with Sabrina Browne, a global menstrual health leader, and public relations executive at BCW to spearhead organizational partnerships and increase consumer awareness. Together, La Boria and Browne have worked with a variety of local and national partners to address menstrual health issues.
“The Flow Initiative envisions a world where menstrual equity for all is possible. A world where we can protect girls, women, and menstruators from a lack of access to period products,” said La Boria. “Finally, a world where we have eradicated a lack of access to menstrual products associated with period poverty. This is the vision we are working towards each day and surpassing one million product donations will only bring us closer to this goal.”
While nearly seven in ten (68%) people agree that period poverty is a public health issue, only 4% of Americans are aware of a local resource where free or reduced-cost period supplies are available, according to the Alliance For Period Supplies. Despite the research, there is a lack of federal funding to provide free menstrual health products, offer educational programs, and provide resources. As a result, The Flow Initiative works with a variety of partners, leaders, and organizations to increase legislation, policy, and advocacy. Each relationship brings The Flow Initiative closer to its mission to achieve menstrual equity for all.
“We are elated to surpass one million product donations and continue our work to help the most vulnerable in the communities where we live and operate. Over the last four years, we have grown significantly as an organization and our success would not be possible without local, regional, and global partners,” said Browne. “We look forward to the year ahead, and to continue accelerating our efforts to address issues at the grassroots level and drive conversations on a global stage.”
To date, The Flow Initiative has distributed menstrual health products across the country, Puerto Rico, Syria, Turkey, Guatemala, and other global communities in direct need. The organization has also conducted over 200 educational workshops on period poverty and menstrual equity in-person, virtually, and hybrid. In addition to collaborating with Governor Murphy and his team to declare May 28th as Menstrual Equity Day in New Jersey, which will increase statewide awareness and help address inequities in communities.
Looking ahead, The Flow Initiative will continue its various initiatives, including working on several bills to achieve menstrual equity in New Jersey. Last year, The Flow Initiative testified at the New Jersey Assembly Women and Children Committee’s meeting to advance bills to expand menstrual equity and health. Several of the bills aim to alleviate the cost of pads, tampons, and other period products, and The Flow Initiative will continue working diligently to usher in new legislation.
Learn more and get involved at https://theflowinitiativefoundation.org.
