Meet Daily Point of Light Award honoree Maanya Pandey. Read her story, and nominate an outstanding volunteer or family as a Daily Point of Light.
Growing up, Maanya Pandey would hear her mother’s stories about how inaccessible and expensive period products were in her native India. But when Maanya discovered that women in America were facing significant obstacles to finding adequate period products, she knew she could take action to make a change.
After doing significant research, Maanya learned that from prisons to her local community, women were struggling to find period products. This was especially true in Maanya’s area of Iowa, where few organizations addressed period poverty. As a high school sophomore, Maanya decided to start her own organization to help women feel clean and maintain dignity during their periods. In May 2020, she founded Love for Red, an organization working to end period poverty through service, advocacy, and awareness.
With a focus on schools, Maanya has volunteered thousands of hours leading a student‑run effort that has donated about 362,000 menstrual products to 207 organizations, including 170 schools in 78 districts. The organization works to move products into school bathrooms, create “period packs,” and establish student ambassador teams that ensure their classmates’ supplies are stocked without asking an adult or going home. With a strong focus on partnering with shelters, clinics, and refugee groups, Maanya has served as a face of the mission, representing the group to support bills that would fund free products in school restrooms.
Maanya just graduated from the University of Iowa and is planning on attending medical school. She hopes to incorporate Love for Red into her medical career, addressing women’s health while advocating for health equity. By dedicating her volunteer work to a cause that’s close to her heart, Maanya has already forged a path that will lead to her future as a physician. Her dedication to the cause shows just how much volunteerism can change the future and, in this powerful example, inform one’s professional career.
What inspired you to get started with this initiative?
When I was growing up, women in my life would tell me about their experiences with menstruation when they were young, and that was so different from my experience. My mom grew up in India, and she wasn’t devoid of resources. But at the time, period products like the ones that we know today weren’t on the market. And if they were, they were so expensive and inaccessible. She would tell me about the negative experiences that she had with menstruation, and that was so different from what I experienced. When I got my first period, I was so excited to be a woman. In my sophomore year of high school, I saw an Instagram post about women in prisons and the struggles that they go through because they can’t access period products. They were using things like bed sheets and mattresses as period products and subjecting themselves to assault by prison staff to get period products. That’s where I really saw that this issue was in the U.S. and not just another country.
What inspires you to volunteer?
So many people are suffering in silence. I think that truly was my motivation. It felt so fulfilling to be able to address something that wasn’t being talked about in general. That’s why I continue what we’re doing, because when we started, we didn’t think that there would be much of a need. Once we got to schools, it completely skyrocketed, and we now support over 200 schools in Iowa. Being able to uncover need and directly help those in need is honestly so fulfilling, and that’s why I continue.
Tell us about your volunteer role with Love for Red.
My title is Founder and President, and so it’s my mom and me who do almost everything for the organization. We have a board of advisors and other things, but my role is overseeing the organization. I help with gathering the donations, going to schools, and dropping them off. We plan period packing events. For the past four years, I was at the University of Iowa for my undergrad, and so I ran our Iowa City team. We have our newsletter, our social media posts, events, and fundraisers. I run all of our meetings, and we actually have a student ambassador program that creates a leadership opportunity for students to take care of their school’s menstrual product needs.
What are your long-term plans or goals for the organization?
One of our really big strategies is advocacy. It’s something that we started in 2023, when we went to the Iowa State Legislature to advocate for policy change for free menstrual products. Our legislative goals for the past few years have been getting free period products for students in Iowa and making them free in all Iowa schools. I would say that one of our goals is to be able to get something passed. We got really, really close. It’s something where we’ve gained so much traction and progress in the past few years, specifically for students. That’s something that I really want us to be able to get passed.
What’s been the most rewarding part of your work?
We send a feedback form out towards the end of the year to see if these products are helping people and making a difference. That’s when it’s so eye-opening to see staff and students talk about their experience with having these products accessible to them. They’re talking about how, otherwise, they were spending their own money for these products or missing school.
Students are so grateful to have these products accessible to them. It just feels like we’re truly actually making a difference for Iowans.
What have you learned through your experiences as a volunteer?
One of the biggest things is just how much I’ve changed as a person over the past six years because of Love for Red. A lot of people are shocked when they hear me say that I’m like an introvert. I’m scared to talk to people on the phone. But with Love for Red, it’s truly changed me as a person. It’s changed my confidence, my skills, and my outlook on the things that I want to do. I’m applying for medical school right now.
Why is it important for others to get involved with causes they care about?
We all see issues that happen in our world, and we all have the desire for them to be solved. But they’re not going to be solved unless we do something about it. I know it can be really scary for people to take that initiative. When we started, we had no idea that it would grow this much. But we started because I wanted to do something about this, and then we uncovered more of the need that we saw in Iowa. Because of that, we were able to create such an impact. It’s really important to take that first step in addressing things that you want to see solved because one person can truly make a difference.
Any advice for people who want to start volunteering?
Research organizations that do exist for the issues you do want to solve. Some organizations always need help, and just email them, reach out to them, or look on their website. There are so many places that need help, and we just have to reach out and ask what it is. If you have a cause that you want to help, there are so many more people out there that want to do the same. If you start it, other people will join you as well.
Do you want to make a difference in your community like Maanya? Find local volunteer opportunities.