One day this summer while working at the Young Women’s Project, Wilson junior Sophia Hosford was asked a transformative question by her boss: What is one thing she would change about her school? Her mind immediately went to the lack of menstrual products in Wilson’s bathrooms, and she was compelled to take action. On July 30, Hosford along with fellow juniors Amya Foster and Rowan Lilly, established a menstrual product donation initiative called District Fem.

The team’s first drive took place on August 10 at Fort Reno. The 800 products donated by community members were then made available to families picking up meals at Wilson on weekdays. Since the initial drive, District Fem has collected thousands of menstrual products and broadened their donation pool to include Harriet Tubman Womens’ Shelter. On the most recent donation day, Saturday, September 13, $108 and 2,103 products were accumulated. 

District Fem announces the drop-off location and time on their Instagram account before every drive and ensures that social distancing safety protocol is adhered to. “Following each drive we split the donations and quarantine them and then we regroup for another drive and donate the collected products,” Hosford said. 

Although District Fem is unable to put products in bathrooms due to the closure of school, their mission is the same: “We wanted to allow [people] with not enough money to [afford menstrual] products to have access to them,” co-organizer Rowan Lilly said, adding that, “overall, menstrual products should be free.” 

The team’s next drive is Saturday, September 19 from 12pm-2pm at Palisades Community Church. To learn more, go to https://wilsonstudentfem.wixsite.com/districtfem or follow @districtfem on Instagram.