Eighteen thousand dollars. More than the yearly salary of a minimum wage worker in the United States. Enough to pay for a family’s rent or groceries for months. That’s how much money the average woman spends on feminine hygiene products throughout her life, according to the National Organization for Women.

Co-founders and juniors Sylvie Kostant-Greeley, Tatiana Shrayer and Daisy Huang came up with the idea for the Women’s Wellness Initiative last year, with a mission to provide period products to those in need, starting in the Boston area.

The co-founders have started finding ways to distribute period products to help women—especially mothers—avoid the financial stress of paying for these products on top of rent, groceries and childcare. According to Huang, the club is currently working to set up partnerships with different organizations to help distribute packages of feminine hygiene products to women in need.

So far, the club has secured a key partnership with New England Community Services, an organization devoted to helping at-risk youth and families get back on their feet, according to Shrayer.

Over the summer, the co-founders met with the founder of New England Community Services, Mark Reeves, to discuss ideas and goals for their club. They soon noticed that New England Community Services mainly focused on kids, which sparked their inspiration for their club’s mission, according to Kostant-Greeley.

“There are no services around Boston that target women specifically,” Kostant-Greeley said. “There may be mothers who possibly have trouble feeding their kids, and they would rather buy food for their children rather than buy their own feminine products.”

Shrayer said the biweekly club meetings during X-block this fall have been a success, and the club is planning to elect members for leadership positions soon.

“We’re definitely looking for more people who are interested in joining,” Shrayer said.

Outside of organizing bake sales and packaging shipments, the Women’s Wellness Initiative is working to become an official nonprofit organization. A nonprofit status would allow the club to receive larger donations, earn credibility with other organizations and get more funding to help put an end to period poverty, according to the co-founders.

“It’s a step up from just being a club, so that’s something we want to pursue,” Shrayer said.

Huang said the nonprofit status is important, as it would allow club members to continue being part of the battle against period poverty even after graduating.

“We want this to happen; we want to keep this going even after high school. It’s not just something we want to just start and then put off,” Huang said. “Having that nonprofit status would make it survive after high school.”