When Gale heard about Freedom Kits of Yakima, or FKY, she felt she had found the perfect humanitarian organization and emailed Stephanie Wilson, the director. Wilson welcomed the email because many charities that FKY works with are based in Utah. She then asked Gale if she would establish a Utah group to help meet the demand.

The Utah County division of Freedom Kits became a reality. “By volunteering for FKY, I can channel my sewing skills to create washable, reuseable menstrual hygiene kits to help girls and women throughout the world manage their menstrual cycles with dignity and awareness,” Gale said.

Wilson, a former software engineer turned Army wife and mother of four children, now lives in Yakima, Washington. In 2022, she formed her own 501(c)(3) organization.

“I was told it would take more than six months to create this nonprofit,” Wilson said. “But in less than one month, we received the full approval to begin one. I said to myself, ‘Heavenly Father wants us to do this.'”

Courtesy Freedom Kits of Yakima

Wilson said she had not seriously thought about period poverty throughout the world until 2014 when her own daughter served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Madagascar and spent time in the Ghana Missionary Training Center (MTC).

“My daughter departed with about a six months’ supply of disposable products. After just two weeks at the Ghana MTC, my daughter requested more supplies. I was shocked,” Wilson said. “I told her if she had just gone through six months of pads in two weeks, she needed to see a doctor! My daughter replied, ‘No, I’m fine. I just happen to be the only U.S. sister missionary in the MTC right now. Everyone else is from African countries. Sister missionaries were staying in their rooms during their periods, so I shared what I had.'”

Wilson realized this mission was going to be more expensive than anticipated.

“Despite international shipping costs, I mailed her boxes of pads her whole mission that she shared with various companions,” Wilson said. “My daughter reported that in some assigned areas, there wasn’t an available store to buy feminine hygiene products. If there were, the prices were expensive and of poor quality. I had to do something to help this situation!”

Thus, Wilson’s nonprofit organization Freedom Kits of Yakima was formed with a powerful mission: “Our mission is to open doors of opportunity for women and girls around the world by producing and donating washable/reusable feminine hygiene kits that will enable women and girls to stay in school and pursue education and career goals while managing their periods with dignity and independence.”

Darrel L. Hammon, Special to the Daily Herald

Freedom Kits of Yakima partners with other humanitarian organizations in Utah, Washington and neighboring states to distribute freedom kits to many different countries and locations throughout the world.

A Freedom Kit includes seven components: a colorful carry bag that doubles as a backpack to hold the kit, seven large pads and three small pads (double sided), a waterproof carry pouch for soiled pads, two guards with pockets that hold pads and wings that snap around the underwear crotch, two pairs of underwear, a wash cloth and a small bar of soap. If made well and cared for, kit basics should last three years.

Typical hygiene kits do not meet the needs of menstruation. Sending commercial pads only adds to trash tossed behind a hut. in streams or brush, or along dirt paths. Unfortunately, the convenient once-a-week garbage pickup enjoyed in the U.S. is not a reality elsewhere.

“The question I receive is why not use internal protection options?” Wilson said. “We must think culturally. Such is not acceptable in some cultures, and, in general, may not be the best hygiene approach.”

Education is the key to helping these young women escape the poverty cycle and realize their capabilities.

Courtesy Freedom Kits of Yakima

“Having a kit helps girls regularly attend school instead of missing school during a period to sit at home on sand, cardboard or using other desperate options,” Gale said. “In some cultures, religious tradition relegates a menstruating girl to an outside shed where she is prey to snakes, animals or male predators.”

These young women also face another more disturbing challenge. “Male vendors who peddle commercial pads target young women who do not have the money to purchase them,” Gale said. “So, desperate to continue in school, some young women prostitute themselves in exchange for a pad. The obvious risk is that a girl will become pregnant at a young age or contract an STI or STD. All may put her life in danger.”

In some African countries like Kenya, eighth grade is a critical time. In order to qualify for high school, students must successfully pass an exam.

“With Freedom Kits, the girls have hope,” Wilson said. “They have an opportunity to move to the next educational step, which frees up their future path to a desired trade or profession. When we first began distributing Freedom Kits, only 15% of the young women in a target school took the eighth-grade exam. Now, in the same school, 80% of the girls take the exam.”

When new humanitarian providers request Freedom Kits for distribution, Wilson and Gale research the providers and then communicate the required criteria. Before distributing the kits, a designated person or organization must present an approved health/maturation education and instruction plan on use and care of the kits. Freedom Kits of Yakima is currently refining the education presentation which will be standard for all organizations.

Courtesy photo

“Many girls, women (and men) have no understanding of the reproductive system,” Wilson said. “Women, therefore, don’t know how to chart a period, why a period happens, etc. Parents are welcome to join these classes. For some parents, this introduction becomes their first understanding.”

Before kits are sent, FKY requests to know the exact destination and then asks for feedback with photos and information regarding the overall experience. “That’s our oxygen!” Wilson said. “We ask for a commitment that the kits NOT be sold. Freedom Kits absorbs the cost. Devoted volunteer efforts are a gift to the girls, and kits are presented as a gift.”

Some charities have partnered with FKY for years. Over the past three years, FKY has made and donated almost 16,000 Freedom Kits to numerous humanitarian partners. About 90% go international and 10% local. So far in 2025, FKY has made and distributed almost 2,900 kits. Those who donate can be assured that 100% of cash donations go toward making the kits.

Volunteers are key to making the Freedom Kits. In the United States, Utah generally has the highest amount of volunteers per capita with Washington being second. For volunteers, the creation of a kit includes many different skills: non-sewing, straight stitching and serging. In the kit creation process, training and quality control are routine.

“The goal is to train leaders on selected Freedom Kit components,” Gale said. “Those leaders guide others in completing a component goal for a humanitarian order. These volunteers and leaders can meet as a group or take components home to work on them when convenient.”

One reliable volunteer in Provo, a retired social worker, found making Freedom Kits very worthwhile. She shared that social work can be an exhausting and draining profession. By volunteering with Freedom Kits, she is able to contribute without the “burn-out” and yet be a part of a significant effort to enrich the lives of other women.

Wilson’s husband is a doctor who joined colleagues on a medical humanitarian trip to Mumbai, India, to provide service in a large slum. Prior to the trip, in a Zoom preparation meeting, Wilson’s husband shared with them his wife’s Freedom Kit project. He was surprised when the Mumbai contingent asked him how many kits he could bring on the trip. Wilson sent 60 kits, enough to fill a large duffle bag.

“After his trip, he told me he had done nothing life-changing,” Wilson said. “But then he told me the most impactful, meaningful thing he did was give away the Freedom Kits. He said the women who received them lit up and expressed feelings of gratitude. Now, he will take kits on every future humanitarian trip.”

Many people donate to FKY and its Utah County affiliate, and a few in-kind donations come in unusual ways.

“Sometimes people call and explain that their mother or grandmother passed away and left a whole sewing room full of supplies,” Wilson said. “The family members ask if FKY wants the contents of the entire sewing room. We don’t refuse such offers. We will sort and use whatever we can. Items not needed become part of our fundraising efforts to purchase other supplies.”

Wilson is excited about the Utah County group. “We want to give our best gift,” Wilson said. “Cindy is completely committed and super onboard in making quality kits. She is organized and detail-oriented, and we work well together. She is striving to expand a reliable and trained volunteer base in Utah to serve the charities that fly out of Salt Lake City. The Utah group recently prepared kits going to Malawi and is working on orders for northern Kenya and eastern villages of Cambodia.”

“It’s been a wild ride,” Wilson said. “Donations are encouraging. Charities are wanting more kits. New charities are discovering Freedom Kits of Yakima. Our focus is to try and meet the demands and bless the lives of the girls and women.”

If people want to volunteer for or donate to Freedom Kits, send an email to Stephanie Wilson at freedomkits@yahoo.com or to Cindy Gale at dcgale71@gmail.com (Utah) or visit freedomkits.org.