Our Days for Girls Boise SW Chapter is preparing for a trip to north Idaho in August to
implement more FREE period product pilot programs. So far, we have ELEVEN schools signed up, from a big loop that encompasses Craigmont, Troy, Deary, Orofino and Grangeville, and also lets us visit LCSC and the U of I to deliver more menstrual cups and DfG Kits for their Food Pantries.
I had a conversation with a counselor in Kamiah about how period products are supplied for girls, "Oh, a number of us buy product for the girls that we keep at our desks." This does not happen only in small, rural schools. Another conversation I had with the counselor at a large middle school in Boise told me they had run short of menstrual pads at the end of the school year, so she bought enough to get them through out of her own pocket. We hear a version of this story over and over again.
Until the Idaho State Legislature budgets funds to provide period products IN girls' bathrooms, we will continue to implement pilot programs school by school -- whether it be small or large. Whether it be in northern or southern Idaho or somewhere in the middle. Whether the school helps fund period products or teachers are still buying them with their own money so girls will have the dignity to manage their period and stay IN class and IN school.
How can you help? Adopt a local middle or high school and donate menstrual products. Sponsor a period product drive for a school. Engage your local church to donate period products. Talk to a local business and ask if they will donate period products to their schools. If you are a school administrator, consider carving out a part of your monthly maintenance budget for period products.
Our SW Boise Days for Girls Chapter is committed to helping provide period products IN girls' bathrooms across the State of Idaho. The logistics are daunting, but we are determined. This is a project that we can ALL participate in to make a difference.
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