500 million
women and girls worldwide lack access to menstrual products and adequate facilities for managing their periods.
World Bank estimate, 2022 · via ActionAid
Run so she never has to miss a day.
Stride for Her raises money to buy reusable period underwear for women and girls in Guyana — where too many students still miss school every month simply because they can't afford to manage a period.
Founded in Vancouver, BC in 2026•First event: April 2027
500 pairs
Our first-year goal for Guyana
About us
A small Vancouver project with a very specific job to do.
Stride for Her is a Vancouver, BC–based charity project co-founded by Anya Melnyk and a friend. We raise money to purchase reusable period underwear and get it into the hands of women and girls in Guyana — a country where period products are hard to afford, and in remote regions, sometimes impossible to find at any price.
Our flagship fundraiser is the Stride for Her 5K, a ticketed run at Kitsilano Beach in Vancouver. Every entry, donation, and sponsorship goes toward one thing: pairs of period underwear, bought in bulk and delivered to women and girls in Guyana — with distribution handled by a local partner we are vetting and confirming now, ahead of the first event.
We are a new, pre-launch organization. Right now we are building our foundation — permits, partnerships, and community — carefully and in the open, ahead of our first event in April 2027. After the run, we will publish exactly what was raised and delivered: pairs funded, pairs delivered, and cost per pair.
Based in
Vancouver, British Columbia
Working for
Women & girls in Guyana
Flagship event
Stride for Her 5K — Apr 4, 2027
First-year goal
500 pairs of period underwear
Our mission
“We raise money to put reusable period underwear in the hands of women and girls in Guyana — because no one should miss school, work, or life because of a period they can't afford to manage.”
Our vision: menstrual dignity as a given, not a luxury — starting in Guyana, built in Vancouver.
Why period underwear?
A disposable pad lasts a few hours. One pair of period underwear lasts 2–5 years — washable, reusable, and always there when it's needed. That difference matters most where supply chains don't reach: in Guyana's remote hinterland regions, pads may be unavailable at any price, so a product that only needs to arrive once changes the equation entirely.
It also replaces thousands of disposable products over its life — better for the women who rely on it, and for the places they live.
A disposable pad
lasts a few hours
One reusable pair
lasts 2–5 years
Why a run?
Because a period shouldn't decide whether a girl goes to school — and a morning run along the Kitsilano shoreline is a joyful, visible way for a whole community to say so. The Stride for Her 5K turns entry fees and fundraising into bulk purchasing power: the more runners, the more pairs.
The run is also built for beginners — flat, out-and-back, ocean views the whole way. You don't need to be a runner to stand up for menstrual dignity. You just need to show up.
How the money flows
1
Money comes in
Run ticket sales, donations, and sponsor support — all raised here in Vancouver.
2
Bulk purchase
Funds buy period underwear in bulk, at an estimated ~$25 per pair.
3
Distribution in Guyana
Pairs will be delivered in Guyana through a local distribution partner — one we vet and confirm before the first event.
4
Public reporting
After the event we publish it all: pairs funded, pairs delivered, cost per pair.
The research
Period poverty is not a small problem, and in Guyana it is a documented one. These are the numbers behind our work — every figure sourced, so you can check them yourself.
1 in 3
female secondary school students in Guyana struggle to afford or access sanitary pads — and miss classes because of it.
Guyana Ministry of Education · via Health Policy Watch, 2025
41%
of Guyanese girls use substitutes instead of sanitary napkins — cloth and other improvised products — because proper products are out of reach.
Guyana Ministry of Education study · via DPI Guyana, 2021
6+ days
of school skipped per year, per girl, because of periods — in the same Guyanese study. Over a school career, that adds up to months of lost learning.
Guyana Ministry of Education study · via DPI Guyana, 2021
2–5 years
is how long one pair of period underwear lasts. A disposable pad lasts hours — and the average menstruator goes through 10,000+ disposable products in a lifetime.
32,000+
girls have received free pads through Guyana's First Lady's Menstrual Hygiene Initiative — proof of real demand, and of a country already moving on this issue.
UNFPA-supported initiative, 2021 · via UN in Guyana
Affordability — and access
On Guyana's coast, the barrier is mostly price: pads cost money every single month, in households where money is short. Inland, in remote hinterland regions like Region Nine (the Rupununi), the barrier is access itself — products may simply not be stocked, at any price. A solution has to survive both problems.
What's at stake
Missed classes compound into missed exams, missed opportunities, and girls quietly falling behind. Improvised substitutes carry health risks. And beneath it all is dignity: no one should have to choose between participating in daily life and managing a completely normal part of it.
Why reusable, why now
Disposable programmes work — but they must be re-funded and re-delivered every month, forever, and they stop the moment funding does. Reusable period underwear is bought once and works for years. It's the durable complement to the disposable-based programmes already running in Guyana, not a replacement for them.
Guyana is already moving
The First Lady's Menstrual Hygiene Initiative (launched 2021, supported by UNFPA) has put free pads in the hands of more than 32,000 girls. Guyana has also removed all taxes and duties on menstrual products — VAT went in 2017, and the remaining duties were removed in August 2025.
That policy tailwind is exactly why a reusable model fits now: national programmes prove the demand, and reusable pairs make each dollar of support last years instead of days.
An honest note: period underwear isn't a complete answer on its own. Pairs need water and privacy to wash and dry, and they work best alongside menstrual health education. We fund the product as one durable piece of a bigger picture — and we'll say so to every partner we approach.
Donate
Every pair costs about $25 bought in bulk — and lasts its wearer 2–5 years.
Our first-year goal
500 pairs for Guyana
Fundraising opens soonGoal: 500 pairs
Funded by the Stride for Her 5K, individual donations, and sponsor support. Once fundraising opens, this tracker will show pairs funded in real time — and after delivery, pairs delivered.
Choose an amount
See what each level means. Pair costs are estimates based on bulk pricing (~$25/pair).
$25 sponsors one pair of period underwear — 2–5 years of periods covered for one woman or girl.
Stride for Her is a new organization and is not yet a registered charity, so donations are not open yet and we can't issue tax receipts. When donations open, this is where you'll give. In the meantime, the best way to support the goal is to join the Stride for Her 5K — every entry funds the same 500 pairs.
Events
One big morning at Kits Beach — and monthly open meetings while we build it.
Stride for Her 5K
A flat, beginner-friendly, out-and-back 5K along the Kitsilano shoreline — ocean views the whole way, and every entry funding period underwear for women and girls in Guyana. We're planning for around 50 runners in year one, all chasing the same goal: 500 pairs funded.
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Days
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Hours
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Minutes
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Seconds
Registration is now open. Sign up via our Google Form — payment instructions will be emailed to you after you sign up, as the form doesn't take payment. Ticket details below.
Register nowStart · 0 km
Kitsilano Beach — start/finish by the bathhouse and Arbutus Street. Registration, warmup, and sponsors all in one spot.
West · 0–2.5 km
Head west along the shoreline path toward Jericho — flat, paved, and right on the water.
Turnaround · 2.5 km
Round the turnaround marker at the halfway point and head back the way you came.
Finish · 5 km
Finish back at Kits Beach — same view, better feeling. Walkers and run-walkers welcome.
$35
Early Bird
Full 5K entry at the early price — for the first runners to commit. Registration is open now via the sign-up form; payment instructions are emailed after you sign up.
Register now$45
Regular Entry
The standard 5K entry. Run or walk the shoreline course and fund the cause with every step.
Register now
Funds a pair
$75
Supporter
Your 5K entry plus one sponsored pair of period underwear for a woman or girl in Guyana.
Register now$25
Virtual / Donate-Only
Can't be at Kits Beach? Run your own 5K anywhere — or simply put the entry toward pairs.
Register nowRegistration is open via the Google Form linked above — the form doesn't take payment, so payment instructions will be emailed to you after you sign up.
29
Nov 2026
Monthly planning meetings
We plan in the open, on the last Sunday of every month. The next meeting — Sunday, November 29, 2026 — is our Foundations session. Volunteers and supporters who want to help build the 5K are welcome; just show up ready to pitch in.