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Power Pump Girls: A Passion For People

BY SARAH BATROUS PHOTO BY LAUREN ASHTON LIGHTS DESIGN & PHOTOGRAPHY

SHERIN Dawud and Raina Vallot, both alumni of Louisiana State University, met in 2014 and their shared passion for helping others sparked their entrepreneurial partnership. After starting their first company together, a series of business endeavors lead to the creation of Power Pump Girls, their passion project meant to empower women and to connect and serve. Since the nonprofit’s start in 2017, Power Pump Girls focused on the intent of bringing women together. Sherin and Raina both felt like college-aged women and better needed a space to gather, find fellowship, and be heard by like-minded individuals. Having such a space opened doors for special opportunities and community collaboration for the betterment of Louisiana. “Power Pump Girls was a social club we created to network and grow. We did a series of events and brunches, and we had online resources. Power Pump Girls started out of a need and a desire to bring women together because we knew we were unstoppable once we’re all in a room together,” shares Dawud. While visiting New York in 2018, the duo was disheartened by the large homeless population and felt moved to make a difference, figuring that if there were this many people needing help in New York, then there were bound to be more needing support in Louisiana. Together, they locked themselves into the Renaissance Hotel and mapped out ways to make an impact on their community back home. Their brainstorming effort culminated in the creation of “Secured,” their main initiative and program through Power Pump Girls. Most recently, their community outreach featured an initiative meant to do away with the stigma behind menstruation and diminish period poverty by offering access to much-needed period products and period education to those who may not have it. This January, Power Pump Girls and 30 volunteers got to work organizing and packing over 25,000 period products into 1,280 individual packages to be distributed to those in need. This event opened doors to educate the public on what period poverty is and how they can be a part of breaking the stigma around menstruation. However, this isn’t the only initiative they have undertaken. “One of our really big and proud accomplishments is the Pink Tax. We got to work with Representative Aimee Freeman and some other organizations around Baton Rouge to get the Pink Tax passed. It’s something that we hold really near and dear to our hearts because we are advocates for people who don’t think they have the power to speak for themselves or make a change,” explains Dawud. The future of the Power Pump Girls is exceedingly bright. Sherin, Raina, and their organization are becoming pillars of hope in Baton Rouge and expect to spread their goodwill across Louisiana day by day. “If there is ever an issue or a need, our community looks to Power Pump Girls to find an answer. So, whether that’s by doing a product drive after a hurricane or some sort of educational campaign about voting and the complexities of it around election season, we know that people look up to us to be social impact entrepreneurs. We put out the information, resources, and tools to get people connected and help,” says Vallot. Through Raina and Sherin’s combined efforts, making an incredible difference in your community’s health and safety all while branching into a new social group has never been easier. If you would like to support Power Pump Girls, consider signing up for their newsletter for information about events, community response initiatives, donations, and other important information. As always, they appreciate the help of volunteers, and Power Pump Girls would love to have you join in. ■