“What is the average number of days in a woman’s cycle?” Students eagerly raise their hands as if the question was a no-brainer. Some yelled, “5 days!” others said, “4 to 7,” but as more attempts were made, the group became less confident in their answers. It wasn’t until the club’s Founder and President, Anaya Andre, revealed the true answer of 21 days that people began to realize how the lack of discussion of period health was affecting students around campus. Anaya’s mission to spread awareness and decrease the stigmatization of periods was now underway through her non-profit organization Promote Her, Period (PHP).
By nature, Anaya is known for being a giver. Coralie Richardson adds, “I can’t think of a single time where Anaya hasn’t brought me on trips to collect donations for our drives.” Though she’s busy multi-tasking her responsibilities as the Senior Class President, and the array of positions in volunteer organizations, she couldn’t stop herself when she realized she could make an even bigger impact on her community. “When I became aware of how many people couldn’t afford menstrual products, I knew I had to do something.”
She shares, “It started off as me getting a grant to do a service project for an issue I was passionate about in summer of 2022. We gave out 50 feminine hygiene bags at a community event, but this small event would eventually become the foundation of my very own non-profit [organization].” PHP’s primary focus addresses the impact of period poverty within our community. With several areas suffering from a lack of access to feminine hygiene products, the organization began organizing and executing a variety of drives to collect materials. Many of these donations would be delivered to young women and girls in foster care homes, homeless shelters, women shelters, and throughout underprivileged communities. Anaya adds, “We’ve worked with countless organizations in South Florida to not only give workshops on period management, but also to provide these menstrual essentials to women and girls. Period products are a necessity, not a luxury.” Now, she expands her vision to reach girls in school and become a part of the journey towards period equality.
With help from mentors, Dr. Phillips, the club Advisor, and Felisha Andre, the Vice President of PHP and Anaya’s mom, Anaya has been able to diversify her organization to reach Charter’s campus. She recalls, “For every event, workshop, drive, you name it, they’re right there next to me. Without their assistance, I wouldn’t have learned to be a go-getter and have had the courage to speak out against a topic I’m strongly passionate about.” In a school of young women who may not have access to hygiene products, Anaya’s mission expands to normalize periods in a high school setting and improve students’ awareness of women’s health. She continues, “So many high school students are unaware of how menstruation affects them emotionally and physically. Believe it or not, several high schools have shown low attendance from girls due to their menstrual cycles, or even because they don’t feel they have the products they need at school.”
As she continues her journey of de-stigmatizing period health, Anaya does her best to reach all of her audiences wherever she can, sharing “We post tips for young women to follow so they know they are not alone in this fight. We’ve passed out PHP stickers as a small act to spread awareness for the cause and it’s slowly begun to create an all encompassing and inclusive environment here at Charter. I’m happy it’s being talked about now more than ever because discussion is the first step to change.”
Within her first year leading her non-profit organization, Anaya has made credible changes in creating support systems for young women to embrace their feminine journey. Students, including junior Mckenna Gregory already feel the influence of their community outreach, claiming, “I feel so much more comfortable talking about my own period. Period talk shouldn’t be taboo and it shouldn’t be avoided either.”
Though Pines Charter is only the first high school chapter for PHP, Anaya’s only reached the surface for what she can do, “I’m confident that we’ll continue on this incredible path of serving people with love and support from our community. This is just the beginning of our legacy together.”
