The United States is increasingly recognizing period product insecurity, insufficient access to menstrual products and limited private spaces for managing menstruation due to financial constraints, as an issue impacting the well-being and dignity of Americans. One strategy to address period product insecurity has been distributing free period products via period supply banks. The outcomes of period product distribution outside the school setting are absent from the literature.
Read moreCarolina Strong: Former police officer leads effort to keep local waterways clean →
Kevin Kendrick’s focus now is a little different than it used to be.
“I was a Detroit police officer for a few years, beginning in 1977 before joining the FBI in 1981.”
His FBI career lasted 25 years before Kendrick ventured into the private sector and his civic engagement really began.
“I learned so much about what is happening in the community to help people live better lives.”
He now leads Rotary District 7680, the service organization that covers 14 counties, and spearheads some major efforts.
Eastern North Carolina organizations tackle increasing period product prices →
The price of feminine products have increased nearly 10% in the past 5 years leaving some women to have to make the decision between pads and groceries.
And while some organizations are trying to provide these products to those in the most need, there is not much access here in Eastern North Carolina.
In recent years, women worldwide are suffering from what’s being called period poverty with the rising cost of feminine products.
Read morePeriod supplies in schools are critical to education and health, schools and advocates say →
Every day, North Carolina students who cannot afford period supplies are forced to ask teachers or school staff for feminine hygiene products. Some students miss school because they don’t have tampons or menstrual pads at home.
Advocates for ending “period poverty,” the lack of access to supplies due to lack of income, met at the Legislative Building on Wednesday to emphasize the importance the issue has for education and student health.
Students in Guilford County Schools now have access to free period products →
Students at all Guilford County Schools traditional high schools now have access to free period products, thanks to the Period Power initiative by the Diaper Bank of North Carolina.
The initiative’s expansion into Guilford County Schools was made possible by a grant from the Women to Women endowment at the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro.
Bill Tracker: Menstrual Equity Policies in the United States →
CVS cuts cost of menstrual products in 12 states with "tampon tax" →
Casten, Meng Introduce Bill to Expand Access to Menstrual Products →
NC teens start nonprofit to provide free period products in schools →
End Menstrual Poverty Act - SB 698
Senator Murdock and Senator Mayfield introduced Senate Bill 698 which is an act to provide feminine hygiene products to students in local school administrative units and to increase access to feminine hygiene products in North Carolina Diaper Banks. See full bill HERE.