Photo courtesy of Days for Girls Pittsburgh Chapter
Karie Charlton, the "Period Pastor," holds a Days for Girls reusable menstrual pad.
The original Days for Girls collection point was previously located at the Pittsburgh Chapter at the First United Methodist Church in Shadyside. However, the site wasn't easily accessible because the kit-assembling area was downstairs. The collection point has been relocated to the Grove City Chapter on one floor in order to make kit-packing easier.
“The purpose of the Open House is to invite the community to tour the building, increase awareness of what Days for Girls is about, and to provide an opportunity to see our team in action, ‘Turning Periods Into Pathways,’” says Ruth Magee, the volunteer team leader and co-founder of the Grove City Team, using Days for Girls’s slogan that teaches that a period is not a stop or an end — it can be a path forward.
Magee explains that the event aims to “continue addressing the menstrual health needs of girls and women everywhere, including in our own community.”
At the Grove City location, refreshments and activities will showcase pictures of the women and girls the organization has helped on the walls from Latin and South American countries. A self-guided tour will also be displayed to demonstrate how to make a kit and provide education on sustainable menstrual products such as absorbent cloth liners, waterproof shields, and drawstring bags, all provided in each menstruation kit that Days for Girls ships out.
Rev. Karie Charlton, the "Period Pastor," volunteers as the USA Special Projects Coordinator for Days for Girls International in the Pittsburgh Team. She hopes that eventually, menstrual products will not need to be advocated for because, in an ideal world, people would have easy access to everything they need, similar to having toilet paper available in public restrooms. A new location and more advocacy are part of that effort.
“So, what we’re hoping for with this open house is that we’ll have more community partners to reach,” says Charlton, “and to give resources out and also to get more volunteers into the space … to make the kits.”
In 2014, Charlton learned about Days for Girls while working as the associate pastor of Third Presbyterian Church. Since then, she has volunteered with the nonprofit to address period poverty and advocate for better access to menstrual products for women's health.
“It's easy to get consumed by it because every pad you make is another person that can be helped,” she says.
The Pa. Collection Point works with the Missouri and Utah Collection Points to fill larger orders and is currently filling an order for 10,000 kits. Global Links will distribute these kits in their medical clinics in Cuba as medical supplies to the staff trained to teach the Days for Girls curriculum in Spanish.
The event is open to the public, and there will be an opportunity to donate either by dropping off supplies such as underwear and washcloths or through QR codes for a monetary donation.
The Pittsburgh Team will still be located at the First United Methodist Church, so if donors have items already on the way, they can still be collected there. The Pittsburgh Team is asking for donations to start using the new address for shipping by Oct. 1.
“There is hope in the world, right, and the hope is that we can all make a difference, no matter how small,” says Charlton, “and sometimes a small difference is a menstrual pad.”
