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Community Corner

50 Cents. Period. Founder Honored in Georgia House Resolution

Georgia Representative Karla Drenner Recognizes Lorrie Lynn King and other Georgia Women for Service to Community

Lorrie Lynn King, founder and executive director of 50 Cents. Period., a non-profit organization providing reproductive healthcare and education to women and girls in marginalized societies in the U.S. and abroad, was recently honored with a resolution in the Georgia House of Representatives. King was one of forty Georgia women honored in the resolution sponsored by Representative Karla Drenner (D-Avondale Estates) for their contributions to community during Women’s History Month.

Georgia House Resolution 826 was read in the House chamber on Thursday, 13 March, with all forty women present. Prior to the House recognition, the women were treated to a continental breakfast with Drenner and other Georgia legislators. Later, Drenner presented King with a framed copy of the resolution at 50 Cents. Period.’s Big Red Ball, the organization’s annual fund raising gala, where Drenner was a guest speaker. 

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“These forty women work hard every day to make our community a better place for everyone,” said Representative Drenner, who serves Georgia District 85, including Clarkston. “Without the efforts of Lorrie and 50 Cents. Period., many of the refugee women in the Clarkston area wouldn’t have access to reproductive healthcare or education or even have basic personal supplies like feminine hygiene products. Her work abroad in communities as far away as Nepal has helped countless numbers of women and young girls not only stay engaged in their communities without the stigmas associated with their gender, but in many cases has saved lives.”

“I am honored that Representative Drenner has chosen to include 50 Cents. Period. and me in this resolution,” said King, “and grateful for the recognition this will bring to the organization and its mission. Only when they are no longer stigmatized because of their gender, their periods or their reproductive choices can women and girls realize their full potential and add social and economic power to their communities.”

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50 Cents. Period. was established in 2010 to empower women and girls to stay fully engaged in their communities and education without the stigma and barriers surrounding their period, gender and reproductive choices. The organization takes its name from founder Lorrie Lynn King’s visit to Andhra Pradesh, India, where she discovered that many girls were unable to attend school during their menstruation because of lack of sanitary supplies – a problem that could be addressed with just fifty cents per month per girl.

The organization employs a holistic approach that seeks to empower women and girls through building their social and economic capacities. 50 Cents. Period. focuses its programs and advocacy in underserved, traditionally marginalized communities, addressing such issues as chaupadi (the forced, ritualized exclusion of women during menstruation); rape warfare; living with HIV and FGM; and by providing sanitary products, reproductive health education workshops and curricula, clean water, and sanitation facilities. In tandem with these efforts, 50 Cents. Period. furnishes linkages to care and connections to peer support and income generating projects.

At present, 50 Cents. Period. program sites are located in Andhra Pradesh, India; the Kathmandu, Sindhupalchok and Karnali districts of Nepal; the Masaka region of Uganda; and in the U.S. in Clarkston, Georgia, the Southeastern epicenter of refugee resettlement. In May 2013, 50 Cents. Period. concluded a six-month pilot program in Nicaragua, and is currently exploring Central American partnerships that serve indigenous women.

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