Being Her Hero

Read the full article about AWAKE student volunteer from the Greeneville Sun

Eliza Girton, a Greeneville teen, is working to end “period poverty” in Greene County and across the state through the organization Be Her Hero.

Girton started the organization in 2022 when she was 10 years old with the goal of providing feminine hygiene products to local high schools, and now at 13 years old she has added advocating for a bipartisan bill in Nashville that would require schools to provide free feminine hygiene products in women’s and girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms through state funding.

Girton said she decided to take on the task after hearing “horror stories” of local young girls attempting to use items such as “Swiffer pads and newspapers” as feminine hygiene products, which resulted in dire health consequences in some cases.

What started as a small effort to provide menstrual products to a few high schools has snowballed into thousands of donations and distributions.

Girton has distributed more than 35,000feminine hygiene products through her work, including to every high school and middle school in Greene County.

Products have also been distributed to the Tusculum University Pantry, Walters State Community College, the Greene County Schools Family Resource Center, Isaiah 117 House, the CARE Center, Healthy Transitions and the Hope Center.

Girton’s latest donation was to the Glenwood Educational Center, and she also distributed many products after Hurricane Helene to the relief center at Trinity United Methodist Church.

“It’s been chaotic at moments, and there’s a lot of organizing, but it’s important,” Girton said.

Schools now call Girton when they run out of items and require more.

Girton said that she wants local girls to have access to the feminine hygiene products they need, which can be a challenge for some families who struggle to make ends meet.

According to the Tennessee Department of Education Report Card, 24% of Greene County students and 26% of Greeneville Students are economically disadvantaged.

“Some girls aren’t getting them (feminine hygiene products) at home because their parents can’t afford them. They have to choose between buying feminine hygiene products or buying food or paying rent. That’s always hard to balance. You have to make tough choices,” Girton said.

Girton uses the term “period poverty” to describe the lack of access to proper feminine hygiene products, and she is intent on ending it in Greene County and in Tennessee.

‘IT’S JUST NORMAL’

While Girton’s efforts began with the help of close friends, Girton has now spoken about her cause to several local civic groups and other organizations.

She said she has never had an issue talking about a subject that can sometimes be considered uncomfortable or sensitive.

She credits her participation in local theater for giving her the confidence to talk about the need for feminine hygiene products locally with many different types of people.

“It’s not something that we should be ashamed of because it’s just normal,” Girton said.

She said she uses real stories and statistics when discussing the issue with others.

“I’ve never had a negative reaction from anyone I’ve spoken to. Everyone has always been polite and kind,” Girton said.

Girton is now taking her mission to Nashville by supporting a bill in the state legislature that would provide for feminine hygiene products in schools.

House Bill 0039 is a bipartisan measure that, according to the bill’s text, would enact the “Menstrual Hygiene Products Accessibility Act,” which would require, instead of authorize, “LEAs (local education agencies) and public charter schools to provide feminine hygiene products at no charge in all women’s and girls’ bathrooms, in all locker rooms, and with school nurses at each public senior high school for student use only.”

The state would fund the measure in the bill’s current form.

Girton has made multiple trips to Nashville to advocate for the legislation, including sitting through committee meetings and speaking one-on-one with legislators.

Girton said going to the state capitol building to push for the legislation has been “a cool experience” as well as a “learning experience.”

“I found out things move slowly,” Girton said. “I had never been in the capitol. It was cool to see how everything goes down. She said she was “proud” to have gone to Nashville to fight for the bill.

Girton especially thanked Greene County’s state representative David Hawk for helping her understand the governmental processes in Nashville and for supporting the bill.

‘A NO-BRAINER’

The list of the bill’s sponsors includes Republicans and Democrats, and Hawk is one of them.

“In terms of policy I think the bill is a no-brainer. It’s something that needs to be done. If we can provide these products to young women who may not have access to what they need at home, then I think it’s the right thing to do,” Hawk said.

The bill has now been placed “behind the budget” in Nashville, meaning that both the House and Senate finance subcommittees are now considering the financial aspects of the bill and whether or not to add the required spending to the state’s annual budget document.

Hawk said the bill passed out of the legislature’s education committees “on its merits,” and that the finance committees will “determine whether it can be funded within the parameters of the existing budget document.”

“It’s in a discernment process within that committee to see if we can financially do it in the state of Tennessee,” Hawk said.

According to the fiscal note attached to the bill, the measure would require about $5.5 million in annual spending for the state.

Hawk said the discernment process by the committee is likely to take a few weeks.

Hawk said he would support funding the measure, and that he did not think the cost of providing hygiene products in schools should be passed on to local schools districts as an unfunded mandate.

“I do think it would be a good use and a reasonable use of state funds,” Hawk said. “I’m all about treating folks equally, and if we’re going to require that it be in each school district then I suggest that the state pay for it.”

‘WORTH THE COST’

Girton said she thinks getting feminine hygiene products in high schools across the state “is worth the cost.”

“These are children that need someone to be there for them, and I think that when they have the supplies provided in the schools that’s something that’s really important,” Girton said. “This is a struggle that every single girl has to face at some point in their life, and they just need a little help along the way. They need to know they’re not alone.”

Girton said she was grateful for the generosity of the people of Greene County, which has made it possible for her to continue her mission to provide for local teens in need of feminine hygiene products.

She would like the bill in Nashville to pass so she can start to help more young women.

“I would hope to see the bill pass and these girls start getting the products more at school, and that way I can focus on getting products to them while they are at home as well as supporting middle schools more,” Girton said.

Girton said she would also spend more time advocating for the removal of state sales taxes on feminine hygiene products, which she calls “the pink tax.”

She noted that she would like to see the products exempt from sales tax in the same was as medication, which she said would make them more affordable.

Several states across the nation have already taken such action.

Girton said that ideally she would like for Be Her Hero to no longer need to exist, meaning that girls and young women would always have access to the hygiene products they need.

“That’s the goal, to eventually be out of business. That way we don’t have to continually be doing something that shouldn’t be needed,” she said.

However, until that time comes, Girton will keep working to “Be Her Hero” in Greene County and across the state by striving to ensure girls and young women have access to the feminine products they need.

Those interested in supporting the mission of Be Her Hero or who would like to learn more about it can contact the organization by email at elizagirton@gmail. com or by phone at 828450-6771.