What We Did
We ended up organizing a fundraiser and creating an EdBacker to raise both money and awareness for our issue. We made posters to advertise the wristband sale and messaged Facebook groups for people interested in women's issues to get our EdBacker out to a large audience. Overall, we raised over $1,400, and because the school district caught wind of our project when we were beginning to organize our fundraiser and installed three feminine hygiene product dispensers right before it began, the money we raised will not go primarily toward purchasing and installing feminine hygiene product dispensers as we had initially thought it would. Currently, there is a feminine hygiene product dispenser in a girls' bathroom on each floor, and we are thrilled about it, but our end goal is to have five total, with one dispenser added to the girls' locker room and one added to the bathroom adjacent to the Performing Arts Center. We were so excited once our goal was met and surpassed, but once our fundraisers were over, we ran into another problem: how to keep the feminine hygiene product dispensers full and functional after we graduated. The custodians have too much on their plates as is and are unable to fill the dispensers and Student Council had no interest in being responsible, so we had to look elsewhere. We thought maybe the PTA would be willing to do it, but we had extreme difficulty finding contact information for anyone in the PTA that would be able to tell us if it was a possibility, so that too ended up being a dead end. Then, Mrs. Wroblewski proposed a solution to our problem. She suggested we tell Ms. Nichols, the Life Skills teacher, about our project and see if they would be willing to help. When we told her our plan, she seemed just as enthusiastic about it as we were and said that if we supplied the program with money counters, a safe, and a shelving unit for the products, they would be happy to be in charge of the mini business of ordering the supplies, restocking the dispensers, and managing the profits. We made our list of items to purchase for Life Skills with the money we raised and now we are waiting for the two new dispensers and the supplies to be purchased by the school with the money in the Capstone account and for the remaining money to be transferred to the Life Skills account.
The Outcome
Our outcome was not what we expected, but we are not mad about it! All together, we raised over $1,400 with our wristband sales and EdBacker combined. Most of our contributors donated through the EdBacker, but the wristband sales were pretty successful too. We offered service points for people wanting to help sell wristbands and that turned out to work very well. Administration and the other people we met with were very supportive of our issue and found it equally important as we did. We didn't have to pay a cent for the dispensers because the word got around about our project and the school took initiative. We ended up deciding to use the money we raised to refill the dispensers, and the rest would go to whoever would want to take over the management of the dispensers. We had a lot of trouble figuring out who was going to take on the responsibility of managing the account but it ended up working perfectly. We teamed up with Life Skills, who were excited about the idea of taking over the account because it would give students an opportunity to learn useful job skills and provide the program with some extra profits. We used leftover money to purchase the things Life Skills needed to manage the account, such as a safe and a coin counter. Overall, we are very satisfied with our local impact and hope that the word will spread and there will be dispensers in every bathroom in America!
Feedback We Received
What a fantastic campaign ladies! I'm so proud that our future leaders have the ambition, empathy, and awareness to launch a project to fill such a necessity for their peers. Keep fighting for what you believe in!" - Kathryn Dawson
I want girls to have what they need so that they can get the most out of their education!" - Jennie Bennett
I HATED having to go to the nurse for a pad. The embarrassment was unreal, so I applaud your (genius!) efforts to fix such a ridiculous problem." - Abby Kirchner
I'm giving in the memory of fourteen year old me and the anxiety, shame and embarrassment I felt about my period. I want it to be different for young women today." - Susana Rangel
Because I can't tell you how many times I was stuck with no feminine products in high school & I have a 17 year old step-daughter who has probably encountered the same problem and a 2 year old daughter who will probably encounter it at some point. Y'all rock for doing this!" - Suzanna Choffel, Austin singer-songwriter
I feel it is necessary for young women and grown women alike to have easy access to things like this, especially in a public school that is willing to give free lunches to those who need it." - Anonymous