In August of 2018, the Finger Lakes Region of NY welcomed back its very own Girls Pint Out chapter, with the mission of building a community of women who love craft beer and who are an active, contributing part of the greater craft beer community. Since its re-launch, the group has met for happy hours, beer and cheese pairings, brewery tours and as of February 21, 2019- to come together for a good cause.
Did you know that one in five girls miss school or leave early due to a lack of access to menstrual products? Or that feminine hygiene products are the least donated to shelters – and canNOT be purchased with SNAP or EBT benefits? When Finger Lakes GPO Chapter Head Kelly Sauve learned these staggering statistics from Sharron Phillips, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Homeless Period Project (HPP), she just knew the Finger Lakes GPO would want to help by hosting a period packing party. Taking inspiration from the HPP and other GPO chapters who have supported similar causes, plans were underway. The party, to be hosted at Liquid State Brewery, would entail “sipping and stuffing” and be the culmination of a supply drive in the community. Sauve set an attendance goal of 25 and a product goal of 100 bags, each to be stuffed with enough supplies for a woman’s one week cycle. The HPP suggests that the bags include 7 liners, 7 pads, 7 wipes, and 10 tampons.
While the sip and stuff party would be the celebration, there was work to be done before the event. First, the group had to decide on the recipients. They asked for nominations in local forums, spoke with organizational staff, and finally decided to split donations between REACH Medical Clinic and the Ithaca Free Clinic, both of whom serve low-income and underserved communities. GPO felt confident in their ability to reach the women who would need these products the most. Next, it was time to advertise, advertise, advertise – oh, and collect the products of course. Utilizing the social media networks of Girls Pint Out, local community groups, and personal connections, FLX GPO began to share news of the event and solicit donations. Local clothing stores and community centers like Mama Goose and Jillians Drawers also served as collection centers. As word of the event spread, other local businesses donated raffle prizes including wine tasting tickets, brewery t-shirts, custom made cups, pint glasses, posters and more. Food donations were also provided by Greenstar, a local co-op grocery store.
The day of the event was an exciting blur of preparation for Sauve as she anxiously awaited the guests. All that was needed was for the product and people to show up…. and show up they did. Utilizing an assembly line model, the group packed supplies and inspirational messages into bags tied with ribbon and love. Moving efficiently the group packed 200 bags in the first 30 minutes and a kind GPO member ran out to the store for me! This meant that the goal of 100 bags had been absolutely crushed! In the end, nearly 60 people attended the event and approximately 275 bags were made. Keeping tally? If so, the total product collected was 3846 liners, 2010 pads, 2764 tampons, 24 bath bombs, and 2296 wipes. After all that stuffing, guests kicked back with a beer, good conversation, delicious food, and an awesome raffle.
With thanks to all the local businesses involved (Liquid State Brewery, Mama Goose, Jillians, Rhine House, TripleE Custom Creations, Greenstar Co-op, and Brooktondale Market) and inspiration from the Homeless Period Project, the event was a huge success! Bringing the donations to the organizations was an honor. Kaela Kaplan, Outreach Coordinator for the REACH project said, “The project was simply amazing. These donations will make a huge difference for a great many people. This is a huge reduction in action.”
The period packing party will now be an annual event for the Finger Lakes GPO and plans are underway to create a toolkit for other chapters who have yet to host this type of event but are interested in doing so. A community of women helping women… all while enjoying a delicious beer, it’s a GPO recipe for success!
Girls Pint Out, a non-profit corporation, is a 501(c)(3) organization. Girls Pint Out originated in Indianapolis, Indiana in early 2010. The Girls Pint Out movement quickly spread to Arizona and Texas. Today Girls Pint Out has more than 100 chapters in over 30 states and Washington D.C.
