Mother Nature Doesn't Discriminate: Analysis of FreeFlo

     Hygiene products are an essential part of any one's life and ought to have high ease-of-access. When Chase said something to the affect of, "Homeless an poor women don't have access to feminine hygiene products," it clicked, and I thought, "Oh shit, they don't." Unfortunately, I'd never thought about that aspect of homeless life, my main concerns were non-perishable goods. Typically the things people lean to give are the essentials to life like food and water, but poor people women don't stop having their menstrual cycle every month. Furthermore, feminine health care products are not provided by any government body, so women are forced to enact unhygienic alternatives like using products more than once or using items not meant for that purpose, which in many cases leads to irritation, infection, and toxic shock syndrome. FreeFlo is a solution that keeps in line with current charity trends while doing it in a mutually beneficial way.

     The FreeFlo team decided to team up with local candy stores creating a system of mutual gain. Customers buy candy from a local store either online, or in-person and 20% of the sale goes to the FreeFlo team providing capital which is used to purchase and distribute the hygiene items. For one, this provides exposure for those local businesses, which is priceless, allowing them to bring in more revenue, and second, it is a medium of donation that is better than simply asking for money. In my opinion, donations can be gathered more easily if there is some exchange of goods, like a bumper sticker, a tee-shirt, or in this case candy. The product is then distributed around town to store, community center, and university restrooms. Having these products available in a wide area is essential because travel is a difficult thing for homeless people. Furthering their ease-of-access, all of the hubs can be located through the FreeFlo app so those with government issued phones may find their closest one.

     I really enjoyed this project because the presentation was very thorough, and most importantly it was eye opening. I knew homeless life was difficult and I knew donating helped the conditions of many of those people, but it never even crossed my mind that feminine hygiene products were so essential. Going forward, when I do donate to these cause, I will keep FreeFlo in mind. As, a society, living essentials should be kept up to a standard that reflects the core ideas of FreeFlo.