One Richmond-area student’s fight reveals how Virginia’s 2020 reforms often died on arrival.
When Lyn Jones transferred to Matoaca High School, just south of Richmond, she noticed something odd.
Every girls’ restroom was outfitted with a metal dispenser—mounted to the wall, labeled clearly, promising free menstrual products. But every one of them was empty. Not out of stock. Not temporarily bare. Empty. Always.
So, Lyn started asking around. She’s 17 years old—a junior, an honors student, and a self-identified human rights activist. What she found wasn’t just a school-wide oversight. It was something more systemic.
According to Jones, 98% of her classmates said they had never seen a single menstrual product in those dispensers.
And it’s not just an inconvenience. For many students, that absence means disrupted school days, stressful sprints to the nurse’s office, and public embarrassment during an already vulnerable moment.
But more to the point: it’s a violation of state law.
In 2020, Virginia passed Senate Bill 232. The law required every public middle and high school to provide free menstrual products in restrooms. But Virginia never allocated a dollar to make it happen. No funding. No budget line.
And so, in 2025, a high school student is raising money to fulfill the legal obligations of the state of Virginia. Through a grassroots campaign she calls Go With The Flow, Lyn Jones is trying to raise $1,500 to stock the very dispensers the state required, but neglected to support.
“The campaign’s goal of $1,500 will provide Matoaca students with an entire year’s worth of menstrual products,” she explained. “Additionally, Go With The Flow aims to spread awareness about the insufficient funding of Virginia Senate Bill 232.”
And Lyn’s campaign? It’s not an anomaly. It’s a case study in something bigger.
In the months following the George Floyd protests of 2020, Virginia lawmakers—like their counterparts across the country—rushed to pass legislation aimed at addressing inequality, racial justice, and public health. But in the years since, a pattern has emerged: Bills were passed. But many were never funded. And fewer still were enforced.
Let’s take a few examples:
- A Prescription Drug Affordability Board, meant to curb sky-high medication prices. In 2025, it was vetoed outright by the governor.
- Tenant-based housing vouchers in Richmond? Suspended indefinitely this spring due to budget cuts, as families were left waiting for help that never came.
- A revised school accountability system, also passed during the 2020 wave? Delayed, for a year, maybe indefinitely, due to a lack of clear implementation.
- Legalized marijuana? Adults can possess it and grow it—but buying it legally is still impossible after Governor Youngkin vetoed the retail framework in 2025. The result is a legal gray zone with no regulated market and no timeline for fixing it.
It all points to a simple, uncomfortable truth: Virginia was eager to legislate in the aftermath of a crisis, but far less eager to follow through. And in the meantime, students like Lyn Jones are left trying to do the work adults promised to take care of.
That may sound inspiring. But it should also make you ask: Why are we relying on 17-year-olds to enforce our laws? Virginia passed the bill. The schools installed the dispensers. But no one filled them. No one funded them. And no one followed up.
Until Lyn did.
If you would like to help the campaign you can find it HERE.
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