Youth Activist Leading Global Efforts to End Period Poverty and Stigma

Meet Daily Point of Light Award honoree Shruti Govindarajan. Read her story, and nominate an outstanding volunteer or family as a Daily Point of Light. 

Shruti Govindarajan is the founder of Every28Days, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to making a lasting impact on menstrual health for underserved communities. Shruti’s vision is ambitious: to donate 500 million sanitary pads while promoting menstrual health education and working to de-stigmatize menstruation. Through her leadership, Every28Days has grown to include chapters across the U.S. and is expanding internationally, with efforts underway in various countries. 

Since the organization’s inception, Shruti has spearheaded numerous local fundraisers and international partnerships. Her ability to galvanize her team and connect with organizations globally has led to the donation of over 35,000 sanitary pads to individuals in need. Additionally, the organization has raised more than $15,000 to further its mission, gaining attention from local and national media outlets such as Buffalo Grove News and Information, where her efforts were highlighted for their positive community impact. 

Shruti’s passion for menstrual health advocacy goes beyond just donations. She is actively involved in educating communities about menstrual health, organizing sensitization campaigns to challenge taboos and normalizing conversations around menstruation. These efforts have helped break down barriers to access and change societal attitudes toward menstruation, making a real difference for the individuals and communities Every28Days serves. 

Read on to hear more about how this young woman is helping to create a world where menstruation is no longer a barrier to education, opportunity, or equality. 

Tell us about your volunteer role. 

I founded Every 28 Days approximately because I was heavily involved in community service prior, and I was getting involved in the communities in my area. While volunteering and providing services for people in one of the food pantries and I witnessed a lot of abandoned women in a very rural community. And a lot of them had come from prison. While I was dropping off all the goods, I conversed with them and they told me about their time in prison, including about their lack of access to menstrual products. Even though they were in a shelter where they had more resources, menstrual product access remained an issue – specifically the access to the quantity of products as they needed.  

Hearing this as a woman and hearing this from many other women inspired the founding of my organization. It started out as,  “how can I give these products to women?” And then that turned into a bigger project. I put a team together and founded Every 28 Days.

Why is this issue so important to you? 

The elephant in the room – I’m a woman and I have my period every month. Not having access to those resources, I wouldn’t even know what that feels like. There are so many people who don’t have access to these resources.  

This is about way more than just delivery of a product. It’s about giving a woman dignity, empowering them. It’s much more than just a pad. It’s giving them a voice, allowing them to feel heard, giving them a sense of security and safety within themselves. 

Growing up, I visited my great-grandmother a lot before she passed away, and I would hear a lot of these stories from her as I was getting older. She would tell me about her time suffering through menstrual inequality. She would have to keep leaves, hay and other clothing as materials for menstrual pads because she didn’t have access to those resources and didn’t have the funds to purchase those products. This helped me appreciate the value of uplifting women. I’m lucky enough to afford and have access to these products, but so many people don’t, and I want to bring both access and attention to the issue via my work. 

What exactly does Every 28 Days do to get these products to women? 

We started by having fundraising events in stores. We had flyers to advertise our mission and vision and we would stand outside and ask for donations. Our first fundraiser ever raised about $500. That was a big amount for us as a starting point – we didn’t expect to raise that much but we did. We put that into the nonprofit’s bank account, and ever since then, we’ve had more and more events. 

Then we started partnering with other organizations – such as Pinkishe, The Pride Project, Covenant House – with the same mission of providing access to menstrual products and eradicating period poverty, as well as supporting communities like the LGBTQ community which is discriminated against and often don’t have access to those products. We partnered with organizations across the U.S. as well as around the world, including India, Africa and Peru. Then we distribute the donations we collect to rural communities in and around Illinois and internationally as well.  

Over the past several years, we’ve gained a lot of visibility and have a lot of partnerships, campaign events, fundraising events and on top of that have grown our single chapter into 5 different chapters across the U.S. 

What’s been the most rewarding part of your work? 

A specific interaction with NYAKA Global was particularly rewarding. We sent over pads, and they made a huge thank you post to Every 28 Days. They thanked us for the access to resources we’d helped provide. They sent us a video and every single girl was holding up their bag of pads. Being able to see that we had a tangible impact, literally being able to see the gratitude on their smiling faces – it was a beautiful moment for our team to see whose hands these products are going into.

What are your long-term plans or goals for the organization? 

Our mission is to reach our primary goal of being able to donate 500 million menstrual products, which is obviously years down the road, but hopefully we can achieve that one day, especially as we’re able to provide pads more efficiently, faster and to more organizations. We’ve currently distributed around 35,000 to 40,000 menstrual products. 

Our second goal is developing a reusable pad that is near free-of-cost or highly affordable to rural communities. 

Why is it important for others to get involved with causes they care about? 

Coming from a youth activist: I think the youth have a lot of changemaking potential in their hands. They’re able to learn from previous generations, then expand on and elaborate on that in their own unique ways. I think they hold the keys to success and reform.  

Any advice for people who want to start volunteering? 

Advocate and be persistent in what you believe in. Follow something you’re passionate about. There are volunteering and service opportunities all around you. Whether that’s tutoring a kid who goes to your school, local food pantries, donation drives… wherever you’re located, you can get involved.  

Do you want to make a difference in your community like Shruti? Find local volunteer opportunities.