Vangina Heads To FL For Mothership Weekend To Talk About Periods

FLORIDA — Florida drivers shouldn’t be surprised if they see a big pink van with “Yep, This Van Is Full Of Tampons” written across its sides on the road this weekend.

The Maryland-based nonprofit I Support the Girls will travel through the Sunshine State in its Vangina, making its way to Brandi Carlile’s Mothership Weekend in South Florida. The three-day music festival, which takes place in Miramar Beach, features performances by Carlile, Nathaniel Rateliff, Hozier, Mavis Staples and others.

"If you see us on your highways, honk and say hi," the organization wrote in a Facebook post.

The group, which collects and distributes essential items such as bras, underwear and menstrual hygiene products to women and girls experiencing homelessness and impoverishment around the country, will have a booth at the festival.

• Also Read: FL Bill Would Ban Talk About Menstruation Before 6th Grade

There, they’ll set up with fun games, like bra basketball, tampon darts, light-up cornhole, menstrual hygiene trivia, and chat with festivalgoers about “menstrual equity and period poverty,” the organization’s founder, Dana Marlowe, said in a video shared on the group’s Facebook page.

She hopes the presence of Vangina in the Sunshine State will send a clear message to residents and visitors about a Republican-backed Florida bill that would ban talk about menstruation in public-school classrooms before the sixth grade.

“We will be inviting folks to write a postcard to Governor DeSantis about the ‘Don’t Say Period’ bill,” Marlowe told Patch. “We are bringing 5,000 postcards, pens, stamps, and already addressed postcards to Gov. (Ron) DeSantis. The postcards are cheeky, educational, and clear with our messaging.”

The Vangina leaves Maryland Wednesday and heads, first, to Knoxville, Tennessee, where I Support Girls will donate more than 1,000 items to women in need.

They’ll stop next in the Florida Panhandle, bringing donations to women and girls in Destin, before heading to South Florida for the Mothership Weekend.

Since forming in 2015, I Support Girls has donated millions of products.

“With girls and women comprising the fastest-growing segment of the homeless population, we aren’t stopping anytime soon,” according to the organization’s website.

The group has affiliate chapters around the world, including several in Florida — the Orlando area, Southwest Florida and the Tampa Bay area. Each chapter offers ways to get involved in each community, either by donating items to the cause or assisting with distribution, outreach and education.