EP #198 The Pink Flower Project Keeps Students Stocked And Shame Free

A lot of community problems sound abstract until you picture a student standing in a school hallway, needing period products right now. That’s the gap The Pink Flower Project is closing across the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania area, and our conversation with Shelby and Andrea makes it impossible to ignore how practical and urgent this work really is. Their 501(c)(3) nonprofit supports 89 schools and keeps growing, serving Spotsylvania, Caroline, King George, Fredericksburg City, Stafford, and Orange with menstrual products delivered directly to school clinics. 

We talk through the real origin story, from a Pinterest idea and one “boy mom” putting supplies in her son’s backpack, to a community-led network built on Facebook, volunteers, and consistent donations. Shelby and Andrea walk us through how their stuffing party works like an assembly line: pack the bags, box them per school, line up delivery volunteers, and get supplies in place early because a student can need help on day one. They also explain their Amazon wish list of approved items, plus the small details that matter, like colorful bags and stickers that help a stressful moment feel a little less heavy. 

Then we get into the numbers and the misconceptions. They’re clear that they’re not providing medical education, but they are normalizing periods and reducing shame with simple, reliable access. And the cost is eye-opening: about $17,500 in donations just to get one box to every school, before refills. If you care about period poverty, student dignity, and keeping kids in class, this is a local story with real impact. Subscribe, share this with a Fredericksburg-area neighbor, and leave a review so more people can find The Pink Flower Project and support the work.

Shelby Gilliam and Andrea Harder

The Pink Flower Project

thepinkflowerproject.org

Thepinkflowerproject@gmail.com

Transcript

Welcome To FXBG Neighbors

Speaker 3 0:01

This is the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Dori Stewart.

Speaker 0:13

Welcome back to another episode of the FXBG Neighbors Podcast, where we share the stories of our favorite local brands. I have two special guests joining me today. We've got Shelby and Andrea, and they are with The Pink Flower Project. Shelby and Andrea, welcome to the podcast. I am so excited to learn more about your organization and learn more about you. So let's start there.

What The Pink Flower Project Does

Speaker 0:43

Share with us what is The Pink Flower Project?

Speaker 2 0:47

So we are a dedicated 501c3. We support six counties here in the Fredericksburg Spotsy area. And our goal here is to provide menstrual products to all of our female students. So currently we work with 89 schools, and I believe we have five more schools on the horizon since we keep on growing or since our areas keep on growing.

Speaker 1:16

Wow. So that's a huge footprint. That's uh a giant, it's a giant project, The Pink Flower Project.

From One Backpack To A Nonprofit

Speaker 1:25

So tell me about the history of the organization. How did the organization come to be?

Speaker 2 1:32

So oddly enough, um, this started in my living room. Um my um it started when my son was in elementary school. Um I was, I have two boys. Um, so not a girl mom, but being a girl, um obviously it's near and dear to my heart. Um I was scrolling Pinterest one day and saw a pin for um menstrual product bags to put in your daughter's backpack. And I thought, how cute is that? Sadly, it's something I'm not going to get to do. Um, but I want to do that. So I ordered supplies, put them in my son's backpack. Um, I think he was like in second or third grade at the time, put them in his backpack, told him to drop them off at the nurse's office, and she sent, you know, a thank you email, and we kind of went from there. Um, I think it took another year or two before anything consistent really started. Um, but after a while I realized it wasn't something that I could just do on my own. So I started a Facebook group and I recruited some friends. Um and um we just kind of took off from there. Um, we started with Spotsy schools first. Um, we delivered to all 30, um, 30 schools, um, 31, I believe, actually. Um, so we included like the technical center as well. Um, and then it was later that spring in 2024, um, we ended up being able to deliver to Caroline and Fredericksburg City schools. So um we just once we got onto Facebook, people were like, um, we'd like help too. So we just kind of grew from there.

Speaker 3:27

I love that. And I imagine you've gotten a ton of support. And so it's so interesting that it is it's unfortunate that it is such a need and that you have to go to Facebook and rally up the moms to to do something like this. So kudos to you for creating that, even as a boy mom. Um, you know, having that initiative to do that. And so talk to me about, you know, kind of the infrastructure that you have in place because you're covering a lot of ground. You're delivering to 30 some schools now. Is that what you said? Over 30 schools?

Speaker 2 4:09

Um, so initially it was the 30 Spotsy schools. We're up to 89 now, since we cover six counties.

Speaker 4:14

Yeah. That is wild. So talk to me about that. Like how what kind of army do you have, and how are you mobilizing people and getting support?

Stuffing Parties And School Deliveries

Speaker 1 4:27

Sure. So um one of the biggest ways that we do that is we're very community driven. So we do everything through sponsors, donations, volunteers that help the organization. Um, one of the biggest things we have, which is actually coming up this September, is our next stuff, what we call a stuffing party. So we run a space and we actually bring in and have a sign up for our volunteers to come help us. We lay out all the supplies and we have kind of like an assembly station. And we just go down the line and we make sure that we pack all of those bags and we have all of those bags boxed up and ready to go to each individual school. Beyond that, what we try to do prior to the stuffing party is we also line up volunteers to help us deliver those to the schools. So if those volunteers help us or after the stuffing party, we will get them their individual boxes to deliver to those schools so that we can get them as quickly as an early in the year as possible. Um, because what we want to do is we want them to be armed and ready to go because really, day one, we can have a student in need. So we want to make sure that those clinics are prepared. Um, so really it all starts with the community donations to our stuffing party to lining up our donors to have them help us deliver to the schools and then helping us uh replenish as necessary throughout the year.

Speaker 5:40

So I there's a lot of ways then that people can help. They can help by just being there and help stuffing, but then if someone wants to donate supplies or donate money, they could do that too. Right. Amazing. I just love this so

Normalizing Periods Without Medical Advice

Speaker 6:00

much. So do you hear that there are any myths or misconceptions that you know you kind of have to set the record straight?

Speaker 2 6:10

Um, I mean, sometimes like we've we've had to explain that we're not here to provide any sort of education. Nobody on our board is like holds a medical license or um anything of that nature. So we're not really here to explain how to use the products, or you know, we don't really explain how your cycle works or anything of that nature, but we do explain that getting your cycle is a normal, natural process and it's part of being a woman and part, you know, part of being female, and it is okay. It's nothing to be ashamed of. And really that's kind of the angle that we try to come in at is just that while we can't provide you with that medical education, we can tell you that it's going to be okay. And you know, we hope that getting this cute little bag with your supplies in it from the clinic or from a teacher if the teachers happen to have them, is you know, enough to make you smile and and get you through that, get you through that time.

Speaker 7:15

Yeah. I love that you say that it's a cute little bag. So that makes it feel, you know, much it, you know, it doesn't feel so, you know, just icky and sterile. It feels fun and girly. And I love how they are.

Speaker 2 7:31

We try to get um, so we have a wish list on Amazon where people can purchase what we've set aside, kind of like um approved products, if you will. Um, so some people just don't know what to purchase, and that's totally fine. So we have that Amazon wish list so that people know exactly what to get. And at least on Amazon, there's a bunch of bags that have designs or they're you know colorful. Um, so it's just something to make them smile. Um and we also include two stickers and we try to make them silly or just cute little yeah, motivational or cute little animals, something silly, you know, something to brighten their day.

Speaker 8:09

Yeah, I love that.

The Real Cost Of One Box

Speaker 8:12

What is something that you wish the listeners knew about The Pink Flower Project?

Speaker 2 8:20

I wish they knew um how much it took um to get just one box to every school. Um, Andrea and I were talking about this before we started um the show today. And just so that every school, just so that every school can have their box, their one box so far, it takes about $17,500 in donations. Um none of our board members are paid, so any monetary donations that are received go straight towards supplies or like paying the rent for our storage unit um or something not fun like insurance for our nonprofit because we unfortunately have to insure ourselves. Fortunately, unfortunately. Um so everything has like a designated space, but even if it's just paying for the boxes, it still takes an exorbitant amount of money just for that one single box. But I think we had six requests for refills last school year alone, roughly. Um, and the more that schools realize that we're here to replenish, the more those requests are going to increase. And the more schools that we build, the more that it's going to take to give them to give just one box.

Speaker 9:45

Um so wow, it's a huge undertaking, and it's so impressive what you have built and that you have been able to raise enough funds and get enough donations in order to supply that many schools. Thank you. Congratulations on your success. I mean, you're you're truly making a difference in our community, and so thank you for all that you are doing. Thank you. Thank you.

How To Donate And Get Involved

Speaker 10:17

If the listeners are inspired and they want to donate, uh whether it's supplies or whether or money, or even if they want to volunteer, what's the best way for them to find out about these opportunities?

Speaker 2 10:33

So our our website has um all of our information on it. Um, but I'd say our most interactive um way of getting information out to our our community is our Facebook page.

Speaker 1 10:46

We have Instagram, we have Facebook, and we have our website as Shelby mentioned, but our most active uh where we post probably the majority of all of our updates around the schools, deliveries, stuffing parties is Facebook, and we're trying to also increase our exposure on Instagram as well.

Speaker 11:00

Amazing. Is there anything that you would like the listeners to know that we haven't covered already?

Speaker 2 11:07

Um, I don't think we mentioned all the counties that we support just to like lay it out. Um so we cover Spotsy, Caroline, King George, Fredericksburg City, Stafford, and Orange. Oh wow. Yeah.

Speaker 11:25

You cover a lot of ground.

Speaker 2 11:27

We do. It's a lot of miles.

Speaker 11:29

It's a lot of miles. Yeah. Well, thank you so much for all that you do, and thank you for joining me on the podcast today and sharing The Pink Flower Project with us. I hope that a lot of listeners are inspired to help your cause.

Speaker 2 11:42

Thank you for having me.

Speaker 11:44

Welcome.

Speaker 3 11:46

Thank you for listening to the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to FXBG Neighbors Podcast.com.