Fashion Slate

During the government shutdown of January 2018, I Support the Girls — a Washington, D.C. -area based organization that allocates pads, tampons, bras, and underwear to menstruators in need — received an influx of messages from furloughed employees. The government workers wanted to see if they could use their newfound free time to volunteer with the nonprofit. By the next shutdown, however, the tables turned. Now, it was the furloughed employees who needed I Support the Girls’ services.

Starting December 22, the disagreement between Congress and President Donald Trump over funding for the border wall left more than 800,000 government workers without their regular paychecks and became the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. On January 25, President Trump announced that a deal had been reached to temporarily reopen the government for three weeks until the new Feb. 15 funding deadline — if a permanent deal isn’t reached by then, the government will likely shut down again.

He also signed a bill guaranteeing back pay for furloughed employees, but government contractors like janitors, security guards, and others will not be compensated for their missed income. And for the 35 days that the shutdown lasted, many government workers found themselves scrambling to cover their expenses. For hundreds of families that contacted I Support the Girls, necessities like rent, food, and utilities took priority over pads and tampons.

“This year it’s changed, and now we’re seeing all of these requests [for products] literally flood in,” Founder and Executive Director Dana Marlowe told Teen Vogue. “What it’s showing is so many people in the U.S. are living paycheck to paycheck and that they need those funds to be able to supply their family or themselves with menstrual hygiene products, with clean underwear. When that is affected from a government shutdown or furlough, they’re not able to.”

Under normal circumstances, I Support the Girls does not distribute products directly to vulnerable populations. Instead, their volunteers sort donations that come in from all over and send these products to approximately 500 pre-approved agencies that work with people experiencing homelessness, domestic violence survivors, LGTBQ communities, and more.

But when Marlowe and her team noticed an unprecedented number of inquiries filling their inbox in early January, they realized these weren’t just social service organizations who wanted to partner with them — they were individual government employees asking for help. So, on January 10, I Support the Girls posted an official message on their Instagram offering to ship period products, bras, and underwear to any families affected by the shutdown. “Our mission is to help women and girls and menstruators in need, and we understand that needs change and that periods don’t stop for furloughs and periods don’t stop for shutdowns,” Marlowe said.

Soon, hundreds upon hundreds of requests across states and federal agencies ranging from TSA to the FBI and the Department of Justice poured in. In order to protect the privacy and personal information of those employees, Marlowe read Teen Vogue several messages over the phone.

“My husband and I have to go to work and we are not getting paid,” one person explained. “We have four kids, and it’s getting stressful. His car broke down, so we’re only using one. We have three teenage girls, so of course, we use lots of female hygiene products. Thanks and many blessings.”

Another starts off: “Good morning, I was emailing you because I’m an active member of the Coast Guard in California currently affected by the shutdown and not being paid. All the money I have right now is going towards keeping utilities on and feeding my children. I saw your post, and wanted to know if any menstrual products are still available.”