By Nicole DeLapp
The Scene staff
Menstrual products such as tampons and sanitary pads are considered just as essential as toothbrushes for proper hygiene.
However, those products can be expensive and difficult to come by for poor women. There’s even a term for it: Period poverty.
This month, the Xi Epsilon chapter of Phi Theta Kappa honor society at Forest Park organized a Period Product Drive to help female students in need obtain feminine-hygiene products.
Members realize that the topic has historically been considered taboo and not discussed in public. President Zoraya Piedra hopes to change that.
“I plan to get everyone educated,” she said. “To me, it’s nothing disgusting or unhealthy. It’s something natural, and there shouldn’t be a stigma around periods.”
Phi Theta Kappa worked with Forest Park’s Student Nurses Association to place donation boxes in six locations around campus. People can drop off sanitary pads, tampons and panty liners through March 23.
Organizers planned the drive in conjunction with Women’s History Month in March, but that won’t be the end of it.
“We would like to see the drive run at other times, not just during Women’s History Month,” Piedra said.
After the drive ends, organizers will distribute the feminine-hygiene products to offices around campus, where students in need can pick them up. They will also replenish supplies when needed.
Phi Theta Kappa members meet every other Tuesday to discuss and work on Honors in Action projects. This semester’s project is the Period Product Drive.
Piedra and four other officers did a lot of research and met with Forest Park President Julie Fickas before choosing to tackle the issue of period poverty.
“She was like, yes, there are homeless students, and homelessness is linked to poverty, and poverty is linked to period poverty,” Piedra said.
Costs generally range from $6 to $10 for boxes of 50 tampons and $4 to $9 for boxes of 36 sanitary pads.
The Student Nurses Association reached out to Phi Theta Kappa faculty adviser Sandra Osburn and asked to help with the Period Product Drive.
Organizers also are accepting monetary donation. They will use the cash to buy feminine-hygiene products and distribute them as part of “period kits” with health information and other resources.
There’s also an incentive to increase participation in the drive. Donors who provide names and STLCC email address will have a chance to win a raffle prize.
Donation boxes are located in the cafeteria, library, art annex, D Tower room 220, G Tower room 329 and on the second floor of the Nursing and Health Sciences building.
“We would like this to be long-lasting,” Piedra said “Future presidents, chapter officers and members will continue to work on it.”
Other organizations in the city have initiated similar drives. The St. Louis Area Diaper Bank runs a program called the St. Louis Alliance for Period Supplies that tackles period poverty in the city.
Visit events.stlcc.edu/whm for more information.