28 Days Project: A Commitment to Improving the Lives of Women and Girls in Need

28 Days Project: A Commitment to Improving the Lives of Women and Girls in Need
How do sanitary pads and tampons fit on your shopping list if you spend every last dime on food for your family? How do you attend school when you are bleeding, without the proper supplies to contain the mess?
Menstruation can be hard to talk about—but it needs to be talked about. The need for female sanitary products for low-income girls and women has been a hidden problem with a major impact. A study done by Holly Grigg-Spall, author of Sweetening the Pill, revealed that menstrual symptoms lead to 100 million lost work hours in the United States each year, and many of them are due to women having inadequate feminine protection. This monthly challenge has a long-term economic impact—absence from work due to menstrual symptoms accounts for 15% of the wage gap between men and women, as reported by Andrea Ichino and Enrico Moretti. 28 Days Project is here to change that.

A Mission Based on Empowerment and Confidence
The mission of 28 Days is to provide feminine products to women in need, to create a less stressful and more confident period. We seek to lessen the monthly economic and emotional burdens for simply being female.
“Identifying the continuous need for feminine products among women and girls in lower income situations isn’t the challenge – the need is apparent and widespread,” said Amy Dietrich, co-founder of 28 Days. “The real difficulty is making sure that, despite income level, each woman and girl can have a safe, healthy, and clean period. 28 Days aims to bridge that gap for a more confident period.”

To reach these less privileged women, we have built a partnership model with 16 non-profit organizations in six states ranging from New Jersey to Maine. 28 Days provides the products and the non-profit partners distribute them to women within their organization. Through this model, 28 Days has been able to reach and impact the lives of women with varying needs.

28 Days Supports:

1. Transitional and Homeless Women
2. Middle and High School Girls
3. Abused Women
4. Low-income Women & Girls (in urban and rural communities)
5. Disaster Relief

Since launching in May 2016, we have received nearly $8,000 in product donations yielding over 16,000 pads and more than 35,000 tampons. To date, we have supported 1,800 periods. Considering that the average woman will spend nearly 10 years of her life menstruating and use nearly 11,000 tampons, our work has just begun.

Facts that Speak to a Continuous Need
To measure our impact and understand the lives and needs of recipients, we conducted a survey of our distribution partners. We learned that the need for feminine care products is wide-spread amongst women regardless of age, race, or family responsibilities:

• Recipients range from 13 to 36 years old.
• Beneficiaries span across varying employment levels.
• Recipients include both single and married women.
• Women are in need across multiple ethnicities.

Through this data, we can more closely measure our reach and form a more effective strategy to better meet the needs and improve the well-being of our target audience.

Not surprisingly, the women who receive products from 28 Days have other unmet needs that can also contribute to high stress and lower levels of personal confidence. Diapers and wipes are in high demand as well personal care items, such as soap, deodorant, shampoo, and toothpaste. This data can help 28 Days build partnerships with other organizations to get the right products to these women.

“The 28 Days Project has been a wonderful blessing to our food pantry patrons. This is a much-needed project for the women we serve. Many times they have to improvise when they don't have the funds to afford feminine hygiene products. It is a necessity which not only provides the woman with monthly protection but it also sends a message that her needs are important. She is important and valued.” – Sharon Reilly-Tobin, Meeting Essential Needs with Dignity (MEND), East Orange, NJ

28 Days is not only providing products —we are making a huge emotional impact, as expressed by nearly all of our non-profit partners who interact with these women on a regular basis.

Beyond the Distribution
Although we have had tremendous reach in the infancy of our existence, so much more can be done to scale the program.

“We are using a launch and learn, data-driven philosophy in building the 28 Days program” said Jamy Barton, co-founder of 28 Days. “At the onset, we knew that our donor base no longer has time to drop off bags of products at our doorsteps, so we built an online model and leveraged social media for product and monetary donations, such as integration with an Amazon Wishlist and the ability for donors to set up recurring (monthly) donations through our website. As we move forward with the program, we’ll continually innovate to open up the donation funnel and measure results to expand our impact footprint.”

The Future is Promising for Periods
Offline, 28 Days is looking to grow relationships with local organizations and foundations. We hope to obtain grants for special projects and to build the program infrastructure to include ideas such as job skill training and personal development workshops.

28 Days has learned a lot over the past year and we'd like to share our learnings and tools with others who want to help in their communities. Together, whether as a donor or as a non-profit partner, you can make a difference. Period.

To learn more or donate to our program, please visit www.28daysproject.org or contact us at contact28days@gmail.com.

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About 28 Days: 28 Days Project was started by sisters Amy Dietrich and Jamy Barton as a way to start engaging friends, family, and community in their mission to provide feminine care products to women in need for a less stressful and more confident period. Balancing full-time careers while building the program, 28 Days has quickly grown from a ‘project’ to a 501c3 non-profit organization.

About the Author, Sara Steinberg: As a current sophomore at the University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross School of Business, Sara is always looking for ways to apply problem-solving and analytical skills to solve complex issues, both in both business and in the lives of those around me. In her free time, she enjoys baking, going on runs, and hanging with friends and family. She’s excited to be a part of this amazing organization, help it grow, and change lives!