Period Project at UGA fights period poverty through student advocacy | Campus News

Over the past decade, the Period Project at the University of Georgia has confronted a widespread public health crisis, promoting menstrual equity through student advocacy.

Founded in 2015, the Period Project is a student-run nonprofit organization whose goal is to end period poverty and stigma through education, advocacy and outreach initiatives across UGA and the Athens-Clarke County community. The Period Project partners with local community centers and homeless shelters to distribute menstrual products and provide health education to those in need.

Lacey Powell, a senior marketing major and the co-president of the Period Project, has been involved with the club since her freshman year of college.

“Period poverty is just an issue that’s close to my heart,” Powell said. “I know a lot of people don’t have access to products in the same way that I have throughout my life, and so it’s sort of been a cause that I’ve been able to dive into.”

Powell explained that the Period Project operates through both education and service. The club hosts three general body meetings each month, during which members learn about topics related to menstrual equity, period poverty and sexual and reproductive health. Many meetings feature collaborations with other clubs or guest talks from local health professionals.

Vivian Li, a junior majoring in psychology and cognitive science and the Period Project’s external affairs officer, highlighted the importance of education in ending period stigma.

“This is stuff that happens to me. This is stuff that happens to other people,” Li said. “Being in the Period Project, it really helps you open the doors [and] be able to talk about it more.”

The service branch of the Period Project centers around monthly packing parties, during which members assemble kits containing pads, tampons and other essential menstrual products for distribution to their community partners. The Period Project has around 30 community partners, including the Athens-Area Homeless Shelter, Clarke Central High School and the Salvation Army.

Isabella Spears, a sophomore majoring in English and women’s and gender studies and the Period Project’s co-service relations chair, emphasized the club’s mission of ending period poverty.

Period poverty refers to the lack of access to menstrual products, menstrual health education and safe sanitation and hygiene facilities. According to UN Women, one in four teenagers and one in three adults struggle to afford menstrual products in the United States.

“Oftentimes people have to make a really hard decision of choosing between groceries or their bills and buying products,” Spears said. “If people are already in a position where they can’t afford [menstrual products], it kind of creates a further inaccessibility. So we’re trying to make sure that’s a choice that people don’t have to make.”

Each month, the Period Project reaches out to their community partners for kit requests. Partners can customize their kits according to product type, bag type and quantities required. The club then purchases these supplies before members assemble them into kits at packing parties.

Each packing party operates in assembly-line fashion, with members moving down tables lined with bins containing different menstrual products. Members stock their bags according to slips from community partners outlining specific requests.

“It’s very low-key. Everyone is just chatting with each other while they’re doing it,” Spears said. “It’s a great hands-on way to get involved in your community and feel like you’re doing something and giving back to the community.”

Powell explained that each packing party typically draws 30 to 40 members, and that the number of kits ranges from 60 to 200 per partner. At their November packing party, the Period Project partnered with the Red Cross and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to pack almost 1,500 kits for a variety of community organizations including the Mercy Health Center, the East Athens Development Center and Project Safe.

“We’ve been operating as an organization for 10 years, so we’ve been able to increase our capacity at a pretty steady rate,” Powell said. “We’re always looking for more community members to support.”

The Period Project at UGA gained nonprofit status as Period Project of Athens, Inc. in 2024. The club receives funding from a variety of sources, including nonprofit and student government grants, percentage nights and community fundraising activities.

Another central part of the Period Project’s mission is its partnership with Project Red, an initiative launched in 2020 with the goal of providing free access to menstrual products at UGA.

Project Red has installed dispensers containing menstrual products in buildings across campus, including Tate Student Center, Aderhold Hall and Driftmier Engineering Building. These dispensers are funded jointly by Project Red and individual departments.

The organization hopes to gradually expand access to these dispensers in more locations across campus while securing university support to cover funding costs.

“What we’re trying to do first is get the departments to do it, and then hopefully the university will notice that effort and see this is something that students need,” Li said. “Hopefully the school itself will then absorb that cost.”

The Period Project hopes to teach all UGA students, not just women who menstruate, that periods are normal and nothing to be ashamed of.

“Half the population menstruates, so [it’s] something that’s very natural,” Spears said. “We as a club try to talk about it more so there’s less stigma around it, because no one should be made to feel ashamed when they have their period.”

Especially because so many women suffer in silence. Many women experience Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) — extreme physical and emotional symptoms prior to their period — on top of period pain and mood swings during their period. Yet, they are taught to hide it rather than embrace it, according to Powell.

Many women’s issues related to menstruation are also overlooked by the medical community, Powell argued.

“It’s just such a specific experience for people with periods that can, in a huge way, impact your day-to-day life,” Powell said. “I think that just having a space to acknowledge it, to hopefully address some of the issues … I think that’s incredibly important just to make sure everyone’s on a leveled playing field.”