How can you inspire your daughter to do something that makes a difference for other girls her age?

During the early teens years, most moms notice a lot of self-focus in our daughters. That is due in part because of changes going on in their brain, but here is an idea that encourages outward focus and character building. Cordelia, a 14-year-old girl, saw a need and met it in a very creative and impactful way.

In middle school and certainly in high school, our daughters are not always prepared with a pad or tampon during their period. Most schools have personal hygiene machines in the bathroom to help meet these very personal needs. Sadly, the machines are often empty or non-functional.

Cordelia didn’t want girls her age to have a bad experience on those already challenging days of their period and so she petitioned her school to provide free pads and tampons in the personal hygiene machines for the girls on her campus. She realized her request was going to take some time and so she put together attractive baskets of these items and put them in the girl’s bathrooms to use as they needed.

The school jumped into action and fixed all of the personal hygiene machines and made them free!

I have been encouraging moms to talk to their parent-teacher associations and school officials to fix the feminine hygiene machines in their daughter’s school, but how great is it that a young girl took this initiative.

There are so many wonderful lessons from this story.

• Girls helping girls
• Initiative
• Determination
• Success

Maybe your daughter can be inspired by Cordelia’s initiative and check out the needs on her own campus.

You are awesome, Cordelia. Thanks for your initiative and determination!

You can read about Cordelia on the Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls site.

This teenager created a petition tog et her school to provide free pads and tampons in their bathrooms