Project Marilyn – A Mission with Dignity. Period

BY STACEY GUALANDI

Menstruation has gone mainstream. TV and film tackling the once-taboo subject of a woman’s period are now on-trend.

Pixar’s new movie “Turning Red” (about a girl who turns into a red panda) and episodes of “And Just Like That,” “Pen15,” and “I May Destroy You” are just a few examples of Tinseltown going with the flow and including positive period plotlines.

But while Hollywood continues to ride this crimson wave, the reality for many women in our country is a serious lack of access to proper hygiene products and facilities, especially if they are home insecure or truly houseless.

Wendi Schweigart wants to end this often-overlooked cycle of “period poverty.” Period.

She founded the Las Vegas-based Project Marilyn, a non-profit that provides people who menstruate with sufficient period supplies who otherwise can’t afford them.

“Our mission is not only a healthy period but a dignified period,” says Wendi. “We want you to hold your head high, but how can you do that with fast food napkins in your underwear?”

In 2018, the Alliance for Period Supplies said, ”1 in 4 women couldn’t afford period products in a given year due to lack of income.” Now, it’s 2 in 5—a serious Code Red.

Photo of Wendi Schweigart’s mother Marilyn

“You also can’t use any sort of federal funding for period supplies, toilet paper, diapers, any of those things,” adds Wendi. “So instead of a handout, some people just need a hand-up; they just need a little bit of help this month. As women, we put ourselves last, and if you have your last $10, you’re going to buy milk for your kids, not tampons.”

This former hospital candy-striper knows a thing or two about giving a helping hand (“I’ve always loved to volunteer!”). But she only learned about “the homeless period” three years ago in People Magazine.

Her entrepreneurial husband Nathan, who owns NDL Group construction company, asked, “Why not start a non-profit of your own?” So, in 2019, she selflessly launched “Project Marilyn” in honor of her mother, who died of breast cancer in 2011—the same year Wendi gave birth to her son.

“Marilyn was fabulous. I mean, she was the one who really encouraged and drove me to Valley Hospital to volunteer,” says Wendi. “My mom was really about giving people dignity.”

But throughout her life, Wendi says her mom rarely received the respect she deserved.

“She just really pulled herself up by her bootstraps. To me, she was the original boss babe before that was a thing,” says Wendi. “I know she passed away with a lot of regrets; she had a life of obligation instead of a life of inspiration, so I just wanted to do something that keeps her memory alive.”

That included using Marilyn’s photo and driver’s license signature—and a little eyelash—for the charity’s logo.

“She wore false eyelashes and nude lipsticks. Sometimes my family would say, ‘I don’t know if she would like her face on a bag of tampons,’ and I said, ‘Well, it’s really on a bag of dignity.’”

Project Marilyn packages two kinds of bags: black (with tampons) and pink (without), and each contains enough pads, panty liners, and hygiene wipes for an entire menstrual cycle. The goal is never to cramp anyone’s style.

“We don’t care if you’re a prostitute; a stripper; a drug addict; gay, straight, Republican; Democrat. Wherever you fall, a person’s period is coming, and we want to help with that,” says Wendi. “There are so many wonderful organizations helping with the rest; we just want you not to bleed on your pants.”

For Wendi, Project Marilyn has been a blessing, not a curse. In just three short years, she has formed a “period posse” with other community partners like Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth and The Just One Project to help distribute period kits.

“Period Posse” at a “Pop Up and Give Mobile Market” at Cortney Middle School

“We go out with The Just One Project’s “Pop Up & Give Mobile Markets,” says Wendi. “Brooke Neubauer and her whole team have been fabulous in taking us in because we really have to go where the people already are.”

There is also a “Finding Marilyn” tab on the website to locate the agencies that distribute packages discretely. Currently, there are four, including the Foundation for Recovery.

“You walk in, and you say, ‘I’m here for the package Marilyn left me,’ and they will give you a bag,” says Wendi. “What surprises me most are the people I know who come to me and say, ‘You don’t know this, but I was a homeless teen, and I had to steal pads from the Dollar Store. If I had had access to one of your bags, it would’ve made my life so much better.’”

Last year alone, Project Marilyn donated 15 thousand kits and over 370 thousand pads, and in March, Wendi teamed up with non-profit Baby’s Bounty to expand overseas. Together, they shipped thousands of feminine products to Ukrainian refugees in Poland, just another opportunity she says to do her part.

“We are small, but we want to do what we can and show the people of Ukraine what a big heart Las Vegas has,” said Wendi to KLAS.

This mission to end period poverty hasn’t gone unnoticed. Wendi has received numerous awards, including the “Best of Las Vegas” Bronze winner for Best Non-profit; the Young Professional Leadership Award from the Women’s Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame; and on May 9th, it was her time of the month at “Monday’s Dark,” a bi-monthly variety/fundraiser show benefitting various local charities.

“I picked that date because May 8th is Mother’s Day.”

In a matter of 90 minutes, they raised $10,000 for Project Marilyn!
“Vegas is just an outstanding community of people who want to keep improving the community around us,” she says.

Wendi received the Soroptimist Ruby Award for Women helping Women; presented by Punam Mathur.

As Wendi looks to the future, she dreams of someday opening a “period pantry” and converting a food truck into a “Tampon Taxi,” but without any paid staff members, her mood swings between expanding her empire or sticking with the status quo.

“I want to help as many people as we can without sacrificing our integrity, our quality, and our reputation, and if that means we have to stay small, then that’s what we’ll do.”

While she admits this labor of love is amazing and rewarding yet frustrating and exhausting, Wendi will keep plugging away because, as she says, menstruation matters. Marilyn would be very proud.

“I miss her so much, but I feel like she’s watching us,” says Wendi. “I just want her to know that her life meant something, and I was inspired to do something for the greater good because of her.”

Period Poverty Awareness Week is May 23-29, 2022.

To donate and spread the word, go to: projectmarilyn.com