I come from Lancaster, Kentucky, a town with three stop lights. I started my period before the rest of my friends, and I still remember how it affected my ability to feel comfortable in school. Even though periods are part of life for women everywhere, it was pretty taboo to talk about them out loud.
When I moved to Louisville, I found out about a program where you could get free menstrual products, and I thought "Hey, we should do that back in Lancaster." My hometown is a small community and people need more resources, so why wouldn't they need period supplies? I started Eastern Kentucky’s first Period Pantry, a small kiosk that people can visit to stock up on pads, tampons, and other supplies.
The pantry met a need, but it's also opened up a conversation that felt off-limits before. Sometimes a man will drive up and ask for products for his girlfriend. I'll ask which ones, and he won't know. But the next week, that same man will come back and he'll know exactly which products she wants. The girl who once was ashamed of her period, now was having open conversations with strangers about them.
Our pantry was so successful that we're expanding. We now provide donated menstrual products to 200 schools, and we're aiming to have 13 pantries stationed across Kentucky by the end of the year. We want to give Kentuckians options, and to help everyone understand that periods are just a normal part of women's health.
When I moved to Louisville, I found out about a program where you could get free menstrual products, and I thought "Hey, we should do that back in Lancaster." My hometown is a small community and people need more resources, so why wouldn't they need period supplies? I started Eastern Kentucky’s first Period Pantry, a small kiosk that people can visit to stock up on pads, tampons, and other supplies.
The pantry met a need, but it's also opened up a conversation that felt off-limits before. Sometimes a man will drive up and ask for products for his girlfriend. I'll ask which ones, and he won't know. But the next week, that same man will come back and he'll know exactly which products she wants. The girl who once was ashamed of her period, now was having open conversations with strangers about them.
Our pantry was so successful that we're expanding. We now provide donated menstrual products to 200 schools, and we're aiming to have 13 pantries stationed across Kentucky by the end of the year. We want to give Kentuckians options, and to help everyone understand that periods are just a normal part of women's health.