Marsha Lovejoy accepts her award as Woman of the Year.
Bloomington, Ind. — While Marsha Lovejoy has been leading public relations at Cook Medical, she’s also been dedicating her time to community service and advocacy and the incredible results earned her the City of Bloomington 2024 Woman of the Year award.
Her career path in public relations and community engagement took a poignant turn a few months after the birth of her second child when she began experiencing symptoms of post-partum anxiety. Finding herself consumed with work and mom life, she felt called to champion a cause that would make a difference in the lives of others in her community.
Women in Bloomington—and all over the world— struggle to afford menstrual products, and that challenge only worsened when COVID hit. Research shows that 30% of women said the pandemic made it more difficult to access menstrual products, 29% of women struggled to purchase menstrual products, and 18% missed work due to a lack of menstrual products.
To address period poverty in her community, Lovejoy contacted I Support the Girls (ISTG), an international organization that gathers and distributes menstrual products and underclothes to people in need. Lovejoy became an affiliate director and began operating a Bloomington affiliate of ISTG. Using her networking and messaging skills gained from her 15 years in public relations at Cook, she quickly gathered donations. She began distributing supplies to homeless shelters, schools, and addiction recovery centers across Bloomington and several surrounding areas. In 2023 alone, she distributed more than 37,000 products!
While the results are amazing, they are also not surprising to those who know her.
Christa Curtis and Marsha Lovejoy at the City of Bloomington’s Commission of the Status of Women award ceremony.
“Marsha has been a fierce advocate for women for years. At Cook, she has advocated for maternity benefits, nursing rooms and flexible return-to-work plans for moms after childbirth. Supporting women with menstrual products and underclothes is very much in line with her passions and values,” said Christa Curtis, vice president of marketing and communications at Cook Medical. “Her candor and care mean that these topics aren’t awkward. She genuinely cares about people, and this is a need that the community desperately needed help with. To her, Cook’s value of caring for the community isn’t just a PR talking point—it’s how she lives her life.”
Others noticed her advocacy efforts too. Each March, the Bloomington Commission on the Status of Women holds a Women’s History Month luncheon and recognizes individuals who are doing significant work to uplift other women. Marsha was nominated for, and won, the City of Bloomington 2024 Woman of the Year award.
“It’s hard to believe that in 2024, periods and even bras are still considered taboo by some people,” said Lovejoy. “It’s a human need. I am grateful for this award, and I hope it raises awareness about the barriers to dignity that people still face on a regular basis. Making a difference in your community can be as simple as noticing something that your neighbors and friends are struggling with. No effort or donation is too small.”
You can read the City of Bloomington’s press release about Marsha’s award here.
About Cook Medical
Since 1963, Cook Medical has worked closely with physicians to develop technologies that eliminate the need for open surgery. Today we invent, manufacture and deliver a unique portfolio of medical devices to the healthcare systems of the world. Serving patients is a privilege, and we demand the highest standards of quality, ethics and service. We have remained family owned so that we have the freedom to focus on what we care about: patients, our employees and our communities.
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