HUNTLEY, IL – Three local high school students are hosting a period product drive at the Huntley Area Public Library to help raise awareness on menstrual inequality and period poverty.
Neha Gopal, Sruthi Guda, and Krisha Sivakumar, students at Huntley High School, launched a local health campaign focused on raising awareness of period poverty and improving access to menstrual education and products.
“Menstrual poverty is a huge health disparity in the U.S., but is, unfortunately, the most overlooked,” said Gopal. “I come from a culture where there’s a lot of stigma surrounding periods, and I feel like there was a significant lapse in my education and knowledge on the subject because I started my period in elementary school, so period dignity and product access is extremely important to me and the members of my group.”
Their current efforts include engaging with elementary and middle school students in their school district to raise awareness, ensuring that the product vending machines in their bathrooms and locker rooms are stocked, and working to raise funds and open collection boxes in the future.
Currently, they are hosting a period product drive in collaboration with the Huntley Area Public Library to create menstrual hygiene kits, which will be distributed to local organizations such as Home of the Sparrow shelter in Woodstock, IL, and the Period Collective. Donations (pads, tampons, wipes, etc.) can be dropped off at the library’s Information Desk now through March 5.
On March 6, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Gopal, Guda, and Sivakumar will be hosting a volunteer event, also at the library, where patrons can learn about menstrual inequality and period poverty and help package the menstrual hygiene kits. Patrons can also bring donations to the event.
To register for the volunteer event, visit: https://huntley.libnet.info/event/13008035
You can follow their project’s Instagram account for updates: @p3riod_proud
