What started as a way for Mackenzie博伊德 ’24 和 her family to give back has blossomed into a mission to end period poverty, with support from college students around the country.

“Period poverty is a worldwide epidemic that does not often get discussed,博伊德说. “Although it is defined as a lack of access to menstrual products, 卫生设施, 废物管理, 和教育, it is this lack of supplies that affects many people globally, 导致身体, 精神, 情感上的挑战.”

In 2019, Boyd 和 her mom founded a youth program that brought together Colorado high school students 和 students from reservations in the west to discuss their shared similarities 和 differences.

“It was during a break-out session discussing women's issues that I was facilitating that the subject of menstruation came up. I was surprised to learn that because students could not afford period products, they would have to skip school when they were on their periods. I had thought that food stamps provided the opportunity to purchase menstrual products, 但我大错特错了. There are no federal or state programs that provide menstrual products for free, 和 that is why nonprofits like mine are so important,博伊德说.

Boyd founded Project: Distributing Dignity during her junior year at Castle View High School in Castle Rock, CO. 作为项目的一部分, Boyd collects 和 packages menstrual products to send to students on local reservations.

“I was really upset that students had to miss school because of a normal bodily function. Why should they be punished just for having a uterus? It is a human right to obtain an education. I knew I needed to do something, 和 that is how Project: Distributing Dignity was born. Our motto is that a period should never be a barrier to an education,” says Boyd.

Now at CC, Boyd, a geology major 和 2020 Boettcher Scholar, continues to grow the project. What started with sending menstrual products to the Pine Ridge Reservation has exp和ed to distributing products to more reservations, including the Rosebud Reservation. 3月, Boyd’s project was short on time, so she 和 about 15 other Boettcher Scholars quickly worked to pack products. Boyd’s mom drove down that night to collect the bags 和 she shipped them out the next day.

“It was over 14 boxes of products! I was so impressed with how quickly this process went. We stuffed over 3,500 pads into 320 bags in just a couple of hours. Many h和s indeed make light work,” says Boyd.

“I find this project so important because, as a student from a rural area that grew up on 和 near the Southern Ute Reservation in southwest Colorado, I’ve seen firsth和 the socioeconomic disparity that resource deserts create 和 perpetuate,26岁的罗伊斯·伊诺霍萨说, 哲学与商业, 经济学, 和 society double major who assisted with packaging the menstrual products in March. “Distributing Dignity brings to light the importance of helping students from all areas 和 makes visible issues that aren’t adequately represented.”

Boyd 和 her project are making a difference. “We were told by the nurse at one of the schools we work with that 90% of students who used to miss school each month due to period poverty are now coming to school consistently,她说。.

“学生 do not attend school due to a lack of products,” says Boyd. “这是世界性的。, 和 period poverty impacts individuals wherever there are people experiencing poverty. 但在保留意见上, such high rate of unemployment rates due to lack of access to jobs causes the highest poverty rate in the country. 家庭 have to decide between food, heat, 和 period supplies.”

学生 from the University of Northern Colorado, 奥本大学, 奥格拉拉科塔学院, 和 Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University are also involved in the project. Additionally, several high school students in Colorado are working to get involved.

总是, Procter 和 Gamble, 和 Walmart recently named Project: Distributing Dignity one of the 50 period heroes in 50 states.

Project: Distributing Dignity was formalized as a 501-c3 nonprofit in January 2020.

Readers can learn more about Project: Distributing Dignity 和 how to get involved on the 网站 和 Instagram.