Written for the October 2022 Spire (Third Presbyterian Church Newsletter)
Days for Girls is welcoming student volunteers on Mondays from noon to 4pm and Wednesdays from 10am to 6pm. Students and other volunteers are encouraged to fill out this form before volunteering. We hope to see you too!
We are also working closely with the Pitt Days for Girls Club and helping establish a Chatham Days for Girls Club. These two groups will have special meetings at our Pittsburgh Chapter, and I am available to meet with them on campus throughout the school year. Rachel who is the VP of the Pitt club has also taken on some data entry tasks with DfGI to organize the information the collection points have gathered about kit quality standards. The Pitt club will also take a more active role in DfGI and the Pittsburgh Collection point this school year. At Chatham’s involvement fair, Kate and I talked to tons of students. In years past it was difficult to get more than a dozen students interested in coming to the church for DfG. Kate did an excellent job getting students excited and we had nearly 70 students express their interest! I am so honored to have worked with these two over the last year or so and thrilled to see our work pay off in student engagement this fall and the benefits they are bringing to the international organization.
I’m also excited to announce The Overflow, which will be geared towards students. Rachel is going to present information about period poverty at the first meeting for the group to discuss. The Overflow (Second Wednesday of each month from 7:30 to 8:30 pm) Starting: October 12th
The Days for Girls International mission is simple: end period poverty for every girl, everywhere, period. While DfGI is not religious or political[1], we at the Pittsburgh Chapter have noticed that working to end period poverty bleeds into other aspects of women’s rights, reproductive justice, ethical, and religious work. These overflow topics may include other period products, female genital cutting, child marriage, cultural celebrations, puberty, gender identity, sexuality, fertility, menopause, birth plans, family planning, fistulas, abortion, pay gap, thigh gap… the list of concerns a person with a period (and their community) are endless. The overflow happens whether we mean for it to or not, so planning conversations and practicing respectful dialogue will help us create a place where the overflow can go without ruining our pants (just in case you didn’t catch the metaphor earlier). Our goal is to create a space and a community where everyone is loved, valued, and learning.
On Tuesdays, we are welcoming a small group of women from the CCC house. Pastor Caitlin Werth and a group from Waverly Presbyterian Church, have committed to partnering with us in this effort. We haven’t had women from the CCC house since before the pandemic and this is a first for a church partnership.
If you have enjoyed doing some DfG work after church this summer, I hope you will consider popping in to see the DfG Pittsburgh Chapter in action this fall.
When you can’t be with us in person, you can stay connected and support our chapter:
Join our weekly zoom meetings Wednesdays at 1:00-2:00.
The link for the meeting is pinned to the top of our Facebook page
Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89621306641 Meeting ID: 896 2130 6641
Like our Facebook page Follow us on Instagram @dfg_pghchapter
Make a monetary donation to The Pittsburgh Chapter or to Days for Girls International or purchase needed materials from amazon wish list or a JoAnn Fabric Gift Card, and arrange for a safe drop off. Wish list items can be shipped directly to Third Church.
[1] Days for Girls’ policy on unity and inclusivity: Days for Girls is a non-political, non-religious organization and is inclusive in every way. Days for Girls unites people from many nations, generations, backgrounds, and beliefs, and serves people from all places and circumstances. Days for Girls claims strict neutrality regarding anything that could potentially divide us from our shared commitment to eliminate period poverty and reaching all girls, women, and communities.
Period Pastor Pad 