- After a full month of donations, community groups in Leon County wrapped up their period product drive with a "Stuff the Truck" event.
- The groups collected over 150 boxes of tampons, pads, and other menstrual products on Friday.
- Watch the video to hear why volunteers say they hope this sparks a conversation:
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
A study by Thinx and PERIOD shows that menstrual products cost anywhere from $150 to 300 per year.
Groups in Leon County partnered to help lower that cost for some of our neighbors.
Those groups organized a drive. They say they want a conversation around the need for menstrual products to continue.
"If you don't have money to eat, you certainly don't have money for period products," Crawford said.
Neighbor Betsy Crawford came out to volunteer at a period product drive hosted by the Council on the Status of Women and Girls.
She says the expense and lack of access to these items is a need that often goes unnoticed.
"It is so important that we get the word out that this is something that isn't being provided," Crawford said. "It's expensive and it's something women use every day."
Volunteers and donors "stuffed a truck" Friday with more than 150 boxes of tampons, pads, period underwear, and menstrual cups.
A study from Thinx and PERIOD shows that lack of access to those products has caused one in four teens to miss class.
Volunteer Rushna Michel said a similar initiative on FSU's campus helped her out one time.
"I really needed it that month. I was like 'Oh my gosh, this is what I've been praying for,'" Michel said. "It just helped me feel secure."
That's why she came out to help others get those products and raise awareness.
"Some things are going to be unheard of if you don't speak about it," Michel said.
Volunteer Ta'laia Wimberly with the organization Girls to Girls said seeing events and distributions like this one gives her hope that the conversation is changing.
"At least that I am hearing it, I know that it's making a difference and a change," Wimberly said.
Crawford said she thinks initiatives like this will better our neighborhoods.
"If we can help in one small way to alleviate that worry and that concern for a woman, that makes our community stronger," Crawford said.
All of the period products collected will be given out at a distribution event later in the spring.
