A Utah mother of six started a drive to provide feminine hygiene products to those who may not have access to them. Kristen Andrus is a mother, wife, YouTuber and philanthropist, but even she couldn’t predict how impactful this project would become.
“It really just snowballed. It was incredible,” said Andrus.
It started when she sponsored schools to provide weekend bags for students. Andrus said that’s when she learned about the need for feminine hygiene products.
“She said this is great, and people love to donate food and they love to donate coats, but what we really need are pads and tampons. We do not have menstrual products.”
But Andrus said that for some reason, many consider feminine hygiene a taboo subject. “It’s not being addressed. There’s still a stigma being attached to feminine products and things like that.”
Women and girls often end up using products for an unhealthy amount of time, or they avoid going to school and work during their menstrual cycles.
Many also don’t realize that they can’t use food stamps to purchase the products. The community rallied together to address the problem.
“Within the first two weeks of February we had, I think we raised over $30,000, which was incredible. It was literally $5 at a time.”
Andrus only saw small donations, somewhere between $5 and $25, but they added up.
Before the announcement, Andrus committed to match whatever others donated. She will use the matched funds to provide products and bags to schools, shelters and other facilities for the rest of the year.
“What’s cool is you can do it anywhere, and what I always tell people is be the megaphone. Be the organizer. You don’t have to put in money. If you’re a college student eating Top Ramen, you can still do a SisterGoods drive.”
You can visit her instagram @kristinandrus or kristenandrus.com to learn more about SisterGoods and how you can get involved.
