#TheFlowChallenge is Asking you to Decorate Your Period Products

In the world of streaming, commercials are a thing of the past, however, for commercials talking about menstrual cycles, there are even fewer.

According to The Flow Initiative, Eiko La Boria, there is a lack of openness about period products, especially how it affects people in poverty.

According to NJ.com, the Flow Initiative is a nonprofit organization of La Boria and Cynthia Vazquez working together to address, what they call, period poverty and gender equality in Jersey City.

“Serious poverty creates a lack of access of to period products for women,” La Boria said. “Through various workshops and surveys, [we] have found that there’s a big problem in this area in Jersey City, where 28% of high school girls surveyed said they have missed school due to their period and a lack of period products, and the national average is 20%.”

#theflowproject have found a way to make art out of period projects. With social distancing guidelines, the pair wants to have a gallery exhibition sometime in August. According to NJ.com, they hope to help anyone in Jersey City who needs period products.

Vazquez says that they are primarily focused in Ward A and F because they are the most underdeveloped Wards. According to NJ.com, their mission is to help the school districts and provide them with sanitary napkins and donations.

“As we were handing out products we were taking a very simple survey – one question,” La Boria said. “Have you ever missed school, work, or been unable to leave because you’ve had lack of access to a period product? 100 percent of the women that took the bags said yes.”

During the pandemic they have donated over 3,000 products.

Learn more about The Flow Initiative at www.theflowinitiativefoundation.org. Support their challenge by painting a pad and tagging @theflowinitiative on Instagram or Facebook.