This Period Company Is Giving 400,000 Tampons To Women In Shelters

This company is giving free tampons to women who otherwise might not be able to afford them.

On Tuesday, menstrual hygiene company LOLA ― known for its organic tampons ― announced a new program donating tampons to shelters serving homeless women, victims of domestic violence, and women and girls in foster care.

The company has already donated more than 100,000 tampons since its founding in 2015, co-founders Jordana Kier and Alex Friedman told The Huffington Post. Under the new program, that figure will grow to at least 400,000 menstrual products given over the next year, according to company representatives.

“Menstruation is still a very stigmatized topic ― tampons are not something people think about donating in the same way as, say, winter coats,” Kier said. “The goal here is not to put the attention on us, but to make women aware of this issue, and to help them contribute.”

Feminine hygiene products can be unaffordable for many low-income women ― costing up to $18,000 over a lifetime. For homeless women and other women living in shelters, menstrual products are particularly hard to access, as shelters often don’t get enough pad and tampon donations to meet the need.

“Some women have to choose between spending money on menstrual products, or buying basic necessities for their families,” Kier said.

As part of its new program, LOLA is working with three organizations ― Distributing Dignity, Support the Girls, and Simply the Basics ― which are all dedicated to collecting and distributing period products to women in need.

The company will send menstrual products to the organizations each quarter ― currently just tampons, but eventually pads and liners as well. The groups will then distribute the products to a network of shelters they work with, serving women and girls in need.

LOLA will give to more than 100 shelters in 27 states in its first year, company representatives said, and it aims to expand to eventually reach all 50 states.

“This is a really big issue in the U.S,” Friedman said. “There’s generally a lot of attention on need abroad, but there are a lot of women here at home who need these products, and can’t access them.”

LOLA joins a larger trend of companies, policymakers and organizations working to improve women’s access to affordable menstrual hygiene products.

Menstrual hygiene companies Conscious Period and Cora, for instance, both give a supply of pads to women in need for every unit of tampons sold. And in June, New York City announced free menstrual products for all public schools, shelters and jails.

Still, the battle for affordable periods remains an uphill one: Last month, California Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a bill that would have eliminated the sales tax on tampons.

To help get period products to women in need, visit LOLA’s website.