There are some things in life that are too embarrassing or to taboo to talk about openly, well at least in polite company of course.
One good example of this is our sex life, another could be toilet goings on, women’s periods, everything associated with it, tampons etc, and last but not least women’s hygiene.
Lily Alter, a 14 year old, was writing an essay at school and decided to make the subject of her work a subject that she felt more people should be able to talk about more openly without feeling bad or embarrassed, women’s hygiene.
Lily dove into the subject deeply and thoroughly, but the more she realized what a burden it might be for some, that’s when she had a brainstorm, a lightbulb moment that was to spread far further than the realms of her classroom.
Her English teacher in her school, Oak Park River Forest High School in Chicago, had requested that students write an essay on a school issue, and that’s when Lily had the wonderful idea for her project.
Lily said:
“I thought about homelessness, women’s rights” … “And I wanted to combine it in a way that I could actually maybe help people.”
Lily had been deeply researching the subject, and that’s when she made a really sad discovery.
She discovered that of the population, there are many homeless women who constantly had to make tough choices, but that one of those choices lay between Staying healthy, Eating, having a roof over their head, or having sanitary products, and the last of these, the sanitary supplies, was usually the first thing to cut out!
Lily thought about this and really wanted to make a difference, not just write a school paper about it, so she started collecting tampons and other little things for women’s hygiene and pack them into little kits.
Lily said:
“They contain enough supplies for one menstrual cycle”
She took the kits out into the streets with her and gave them to homeless women, such a great, kind and selfless act, both compassionate and thoughtful Lily had stunned her teacher and everyone else!
No too long after this she had collected $3000 for her project to continue!
Lily said:
“With the money I have made now, I could probably have a year’s worth of kits for the woman in the shelters”
A small gesture that made a huge impact:
If more people could be so selfless and follow this girl’s passion for helping others. Maybe if you share her story it will prompt others to get stuck in and help each other out!