Meet the duo behind an annual Galentine’s Day event that doubles as a fundraiser

Slip into something leopard or break out the leather and neon. This year’s Power Pump Girls’ Galentine’s Day event summons a vintage Vegas vibe as it raises a glass to female friendship and community change. The “Queen of Clubs: All Bets on Her” Feb. 12 gathering at Chelsea’s Live will feature music, dancing, awards for local activists and, of course, your best old-school Sin City looks.

“A few years ago, we started playing with different themes,” says Power Pump Girls co-founder Sherin Dawud, who created the organization with friend Raina Vallot in 2017. “That’s something that people really look forward to.”

Splashy, girl-power fun might be in the forefront, but the event also doubles as a fundraiser. Dawud and Vallot say they saw value in parlaying their women-centric brand into a standing Galentine’s Day party whose proceeds support their various volunteer initiatives, which include civic engagement, education and filling basic human needs.

Their flagship program is period poverty, a little-discussed problem that impacts low-income women and girls. Cash-strapped families frequently face no-win choices between buying food or monthly period products. According to the national nonprofit Period.org, almost one in four students in the U.S. can’t afford tampons or pads, and 39% of teens “feel unable to do their best schoolwork due to lack of access to period products.”

Even while juggling full-time jobs as co-founders of the marketing and events firm Nura, Dawud and Vallot have worked hard to raise awareness about the issue and bring products to those in need. They recently created an online portal for schools and community organizations to request products, which they and their volunteers provide.

“Since we started [Power Pump Girls], we’ve been able to distribute more than half a million period products to local organizations,” Vallot says. “It’s our passion project.”

Their Galentine’s Day fundraisers began in 2019, but this year’s event marks the first to honor local women “who exemplify what it means to be a Power Pump Girl,” Dawud says. This year’s award winners include Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank President and CEO Elizabeth Pfifer, Baton Rouge Alliance for Students CEO Adonica Duggan, Mimosa Handcrafted founder Madeline Ellis and others.

“We’re expecting between 150 and 200 [attendees],” Dawud says. “It’s going to be a really great night.”

Save the date

Queen of Clubs: All Bets on Her

Thursday, Feb. 12

6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Chelsea’s Live

For more information about tickets, see @powerpumpgirlsinc on Instagram.

This article was originally published in the February 2026 issue of 225 Magazine.