Are You Sure You Have All The School Supplies You Need?
It’s weird to think it’s August already, but students return to school later this month. Every year, caregivers scramble to get the notebooks and folders their children need for class, but for kids who menstruate, this scramble also involves pads and tampons.
A quarter of teens in the US have missed class because of a lack of access to period products. Despite that, these products take second place to Sharpies. If a student can’t attend class without them, why aren’t they provided for free? That’s where you come in.
The week of September 2nd, we are asking folks to host period product drives to get the products students need and to remind everyone that school supplies encompass a little more than paper and pencils.
If you are interested in hosting a drive, please email outreach@carecollectiveswmi.org or visit the link below to read through our toolkit. We would love your help spreading the word and keeping Kalamazoo Public Schools stocked with all the pads and tampons they need.
If you don’t have the time to run a drive, we would love your support in other ways! For example, just last month, a group from Stryker stopped by and very casually repackaged 44,825 diapers. We aren’t asking you to do that much alone, but one hour volunteering, a post on social media, or a few dollars can all make a difference.
It takes a huge community to end diaper need and period poverty, but if we all help a little, together we can help a lot.
