Silver Spring resident Dana Marlowe literally jumped for joy and ran around the television stage of The Kelly Clarkson Show after being named Good Neighbor of the Year for her efforts distributing 36 million bras and feminine hygiene products.
People gladly donate money or food, but they don’t even think about how these female products are so needed, she said. It’s not just the poor who are grateful. Marlowe’s I Support The Girls organization also sends products to women living in natural disaster areas or those without access to nearby stores. She, and her army of volunteers, send them to cities throughout the country as well as Philippines, Pakistan, Canada and Australia.
The Kelly Clarkson Show and Starbucks gave I Support The Girls $100,000, which Marlowe intends to use to create a few pop-up give-away locations out of the organization’s van in food store deserts in Washington, D.C.
She also received $60,000 from her original appearance on the Kelly Clarkson Show earlier this year. That money came from Pilot Pens, country singer Lainey Wilson and television’s Hoda Kotb.
“It’s just been a very, very wild ride,” said the mother of two teenage boys.
I Support the Girls has a warehouse in Rockville where the bras, menstrual products, make up, pajamas, underwear and socks are stored, sorted and boxed for distribution.
It all started in July of 2015 in her basement, with friends, neighbors and even her two then-young sons sorting and boxing up the donated materials. Since then, I Support the Girls has grown to a nonprofit with more than 60 affiliates throughout the world with eight employees and hundreds of volunteers.
Between the early days 10 years ago and now, I Support The Girls has donated 36 million products, Marlowe said, adding, “The need is huge. The need just keeps growing.”
Her organization has distributed these products to more than 5,000 homeless shelters, needy schools and organizations that support the LGBTQ community, abused women and veterans.
As her organization continues to grow, Marlowe hopes to expand into advocacy and education for young girls.
This all is a long way from that day when she walked into a bra store after losing weight and needing new undergarments. She asked an employee what she should do with her bras that no longer fit her. That’s when Marlowe learned of how great the need for feminine clothing and products were for struggling women and their dignity.
