Media

Making a Difference: Addressing Period Poverty

One on One with Steve Adubato, May 5, 2024

NJ Spotlight News, August 23, 2023

 

Girls Helping Girls. Period., Co-Founder and Executive Director Elise Joy discussing Period Poverty with Chris Jansing Reports/MSNBC, November 29, 2022

 

GHGP In The News

Patch, August 2023

NJ Schools Must Provide Free Tampons For Students Under New Law

State of New Jersey, August 2023

Governor Murphy Signs Bill to Provide Access to Free Menstrual Products for Students in Grades Six through Twelve

Diversity In Action, Summer 2023

Advocates for Change

The Village Green, March 9, 2023

South Orange Elks Raise Money & Collect Products for Girls Helping Girls. Period.

Business Wire, October 7, 2022

Always® Launches First-Ever Team of “50 Period Heroes” Across the Country to Help #EndPeriodPoverty

The Village Green, Aug. 21, 2022  

South Orange Elks Donate $1500 to Girls Helping Girls Period

Forbes, Apr. 4, 2022                            

How Diaper Banks Help Our Neighbors Meet Their Basic Needs

Jewish Standard, May 5, 2021          

Girls Helping Girls. Period.

Essex Daily News,  Apr. 29, 2021

UCC’s Torres, Joy Sisters Receive Humanitarian Awards

The Village Green,  Apr. 22, 2021

South Orange Sisters Win Russ Berrie Making A Difference Award

Future of Personal Health, Dec. 31, 2019

How Much Do You Really Know About Your Period?

Her Success Story, Dec. 9, 2019

Changing Lives Through Non-Profit Work is the Measurement of Success

Where Brains Meet Beauty™️ Podcast,   Oct. 2019 Episode 123

Always Press Release, Sept. 2019

Always Wants to Help #EndPeriodPoverty to Keep Girls in School & Confident

Costco Connection, Dec. 2017

Girls Helping Girls. Period.

Splinter, Nov. 17, 2017

Ban Charging for Tampons in Public Restrooms

Divided States of Women, Oct. 26, 2017

The government should not profit off women’s periods. Get rid of the ‘tampon tax.’

InStyle, May 30, 2017

This is How Sustain Natural Is Fighting the Tampon Tax

Fast Company, May 25, 2017

Fight the Tampon Tax with Sustain’s New Line of Organic Period Products

Bustle, May 24, 2017

How Sustain’s New Line of Organic Period Products is Fighting the Tampon Tax

Essex News Daily, Apr. 30, 2017

Teen Sisters Find Support For Their Non-Profit from Their TSTI Community

The Village Green, Mar. 26, 2017

Maplewood/South Orange Community Mobilizes for Girls Helping Girls Period.

The Lenny Letter, Jan. 25, 2017

Period Policy: An Interview with “Menstrual Equity” Activist Jennifer Weiss-Wolf

Cosmopolitan, Dec. 2016

Period Power!

WBCL, 90.3, Dec. 8, 2016

Lynne Ford Interview

Metro, Jun. 27, 2016

These Teen Sisters Are Fighting For Menstrual Equity

Thomson Reuters Foundation News, Jun. 23, 2016

In U.S. First, New York City Making Tampons Free in Schools

A Mighty Girl, Jun. 16, 2016

Two Mighty Girl Sisters Have Collected 50,000 Pads and Tampons

Newsweek,  Apr. 21, 2016

The Women Taking on Menstrual Equality

Fucsia.co, Apr. 19, 2016

Girls Helping Girls:Porque la Higiene Femenina No Es Un Lujo

HuffPo Impact,  Apr. 15, 2016

These  Sisters Are Getting Tampons to Women Who Can’t Afford Them (video)

HelloGiggles,  Mar. 10, 2016

These Sisters Are Changing The Way We Talk About (And Pay For)  Periods

Reuters TV, Mar. 9, 2016                                

The Fight for Menstrual Equality

Woman’s Day, Mar. 8, 2016                      

These Sisters Are Changing The Lives of Hundreds of Women Every Year

Reuters, Mar. 8, 2016                                       

US Women Push Back Against Stigma, Cost of Menstruation

Yahoo News, Mar. 8, 2016

Emma Joy,16, and her sister Quinn, 12, pack feminine products for delivery at their home in South Orange, New Jersey

VICE, Feb. 29, 2016

The Price Young Girls Pay When Tampons Aren’t Free

New York Times, Feb. 29, 2016

Free The Tampons

The Village Green, Feb. 5, 2016

‘Girls Helping Girls. Period.’ is Looking for a Few Good Men (and Boys)

The Atlantic, CityLab, Jan. 28, 2016.

It Takes a Community to Abolish the ‘Tampon Tax’

The Nation, Jan. 26, 2016

Why Are We Paying Sales Tax on Tampons?

The Village Green, Jan. 12, 2016

Girls Helping Girls Period’ Honored by South Orange Trustees

Essex News Daily, Jan. 10, 2016

South Orange Sisters Bring Joy to Local Women with Nonprofit

Time.com, Aug. 11, 2015

America’s Very Real Menstrual Crisis

The New York Times, Apr. 22, 2015

Helping Women and Girls. Period. Part Two

The New York Times, Jan. 28, 2015

Helping Women and Girls. Period.

The Village Green, Jan. 28, 2015

South Orange Teens Launch ‘Girls Helping Girls. Period’

FAQ

When we were founded
Girls Helping Girls. Period. “the party” happened in early 2015. That’s when the Joy family of South Orange, NJ, invited a few friends and neighbors to their home and asked them to bring donations of period products.

They also asked several other families to host events, and in a few months, they amassed 50,000 pads and tampons (which filled their dining room)! That March, the design team at CultHealth, an advertising agency, presented Emma and Quinn Joy with a gift of the group’s logo, and Emma promptly announced she would be called Gina. (Get it?!)

After about 18 months of continuing to collect products and donate to organizations and people in and around Essex County, NJ, Girls Helping Girls. Period. was granted 501(c)(3) nonprofit status in 2016.

Who was involved
The idea for the original collection came about after Emma Joy, then a high school freshman, did a project to benefit a local food pantry.

A reporter who wrote a feature about the work suggested to Emma and her family that their next project be to donate period supplies to the pantry because they are not covered by benefit programs like SNAP and so many people struggle to afford them.

They were shocked. And Elise, Emma’s mom, reached out to school nurses and confirmed the problem was widespread. Within weeks, Emma, along with her 6th-grade sister Quinn and their parents, Elise and Rick, decided to host that first party. One of the people they spoke to about their work was Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, a lawyer and activist who lived in their town.

Jennifer was equally shocked that period poverty affected so many families, which inspired her to submit this piece to the NY Times.

(Jennifer became a founding member of the GHGP board, wrote a book about “menstrual equity” (a widely used term she coined), and founded her own organization, Period Equity, which fights for legislation to repeal the sales tax on menstrual products across the country.) 

What we do
From the start, GHGP has collected and donated period products through an ever-expanding network of partners that includes food pantries, social services organizations, and community groups. We have found that talking about the issue is as valuable a tool in helping others; most are shocked to learn about period poverty and are quick to want to help. We have donated millions of products but also focus on bringing about systemic change through workshops, advocacy for student support through legislation, and building connections in local communities.
How we have helped

At first, we worked mainly by hosting events (or assisting others) and donating pads and tampons to food pantries and schools. In time, it became evident that our intention of supporting students actually undermined efforts spreading across the country to demand period products be available for free in bathrooms as part of schools’ obligation to meet students’ basic needs. We no longer put products in school bathrooms but instead work with school staff to support students who need help at home, while encouraging administrators to make an investment in their students by purchasing products and dispensers for their buildings. We advocate in NJ for the bill that would require period products in schools. Our workshops engage students, workplaces, and educators who want to learn about advocacy, sustainability, and menstrual management. And our corporate partners help us continue to make meaningful donations in and around New Jersey and elsewhere in the US.

Read our 2022 Social Impact Report for more information

Noteworthy Statistics
As of August 2022,

2,427,571 menstrual products donated 

149 Partner Agencies

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Help Us Put An End to Period Poverty!