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Maria’s Story: Pads, Pallets, and a Mom’s Peace of Mind
When Maria’s daughters attended summer programs at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston last year, they had access to menstrual care products from Dignity Matters. And that extra support made a big difference to their family.
Staff and volunteers at the Boys & Girls Club of Boston with menstrual pads donated by Dignity Matters.
For many families, summer creates additional financial pressure. Without the free meals children receive during the school year, and with added childcare costs, household budgets are stretched to the max. Menstrual care items can’t be purchased with benefit programs like SNAP/Food Stamps or WIC, so they quickly become unaffordable. And periods become a barrier to work and to participation in camp and other activities.
“In the summer, money is tight because my girls don’t get free breakfast and lunch at school,” Maria shared. “I feel terrible when I can’t afford enough pads, and it’s a relief that they can get them here.”
Maria’s daughters are just 2 of the 18,500 women and girls that receive free menstrual care from Dignity Matters every month. And it’s all made possible by donations from individuals, businesses, foundations, and community organizations across Massachusetts.
When you make a financial contribution to Dignity Matters, we pool your donation with others to purchase pads through our wholesale manufacturing contract. Every $1 donated becomes $4 worth of menstrual care, and that makes it possible for us to maintain a reliable supply for the women that count on us every month. Whether you give $50 or $5,000, your gift helps women and girls thrive.
Before each distribution, 400,000+ pads arrive at our warehouse in Westborough, packed onto pallets and delivered via tractor trailer. After we unload and inventory every box, our staff and volunteers get to work packing orders for the 185 nonprofit organizations we support. Pads for The Boys & Girls Club are personally delivered to their headquarters by a Dignity Matters volunteer.
So many people and organizations – donors, volunteers and staff – play a critical role in getting those pads to women like Maria and her daughters when they need them. Your donations and dozens of volunteer hours become something deeply personal: relief for a mom, confidence for her daughters, and dignity restored, one pad at a time.