By Bella Macleod
Executive Features Editor
Senior Collette Tibbets took what started as a Girl Scout’s project to a whole new level.
Tibbets established the Red Leaf Project her sophomore year of high school. The organization connects communities to educational and entrepreneurial resources to achieve universal hygiene management accessibility.
“The Red Leaf Project started as a Gold Award Project for Girl Scouts; you’re given one prompt where you’re supposed to create a project that has a sustainable impact on the community,” Tibbets said. “I picked the community of women, and I decided I wanted to tackle the topic of universal menstrual health and hygiene.”
Tibbetts went to a nonprofit in Hermosa Beach that works with refugee camps for advice about starting her own organization. She found out that refugees are rarely asked what they are missing, which inspired the Red Leaf Project, Tibbetts said.
“I’ve been working on this project for [approximately] two and a half years now, and it excites me everyday,” Tibbetts said. “It’s just a matter of getting the word out about it.”
Tibbetts and members of the Red Leaf Project educate women in Bridge Housing programs. These programs support homeless women that are entering the job market and teach them about female health and how to sew their own reusable sanitary kits. The organization also teaches them entrepreneurial and therapeutic skills.
“When we were [in downtown Los Angeles], we saw they had an issue with pads down there, menstrual hygiene management and accessibility in general,” Tibbets said. “Pads are one of the things they ask for most of the time.”
The Red Leaf Project is currently running these workshops until June with the Downtown Women’s Center at the Skid Row neighborhood in downtown Los Angeles.
“We have a couple branches of the Red Leaf Project that we have in the works right now called Red Legacy, which is aiming to destigmatize menstrual hygiene management and open up the conversation on menstruation,” Tibbets said.
Tibbets has organized a pad drive which takes place this month across Southern California, working with Mira Costa, Santa Monica High School, Da Vinci High School and Redondo Union. This drive collects pads to donate to the Downtown Women’s Center.
“The Red Leaf Project has made it one of their missions to achieve universal hygiene management accessibility in any means, including through disposable pads,” Tibbets said.
Tibbetts has recently started a segment for the organization called “Pretty in Red” which takes photos that feature the color red in objects and clothing. The photos are then uploaded to the Red Leaf Project’s website and Instagram.
“‘Pretty in Red’ is my personal favorite right now because it’s both philanthropy and photography,” Tibbetts said. “[It] aims at highlighting the beauty of the color red, because the world is pretty in red.”
Another component to the project is that Tibbetts interviews several women of different ages, ethnicities and backgrounds to share their stories about their menstrual cycles. The interviews are posted to the Red Legacy’s YouTube account. Tibbetts recently interviewed a student at the California State University, Long Beach pre-med nursing program.
“For me, the Red Leaf Project is my way of giving a voice to a topic that I’ve always feared and has given me the opportunity to learn how to express myself and help other people express themselves in ways that they usually wouldn’t be comfortable,” Tibbetts said. “It really is about overcoming fears and becoming comfortable with yourself. If I can spread on that message and give people the opportunity to learn how to find that in themselves, then I’m all the more grateful for everything I’ve had the chance to do.”
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