Menstrual Product Drive succeeds at CVHS

The Girls Learn International (GLI) Club at CVHS held and collected from a menstrual products drive from Nov. 6 to Nov. 17. All the donated products went to a hygiene bank in San Francisco called Simply the Basics, which serves low-income and homeless populations in the city. 

There were donation bins in Room 501, the girls locker room, and library for all students to access. This was the group’s third year holding this drive, and students are aiming to make this an annual event. They are also planning to organize another menstrual products drive in the spring. 

The GLI Club is organizing this drive to raise awareness of the shortage of menstrual products that low-income and homeless individuals face. Implementing this drive also normalizes talk around periods, which has historically been a “shameful” topic to discuss. 

“Periods are not something that we choose, so when we need products and we’re not able to have them, that becomes a problem. We become limited as menstruators. Raising these products makes a big impact on people who don’t have access to them or who have a harder time getting them,” GLI Club president Lauren Siopack reflected.

They had posted on their Instagram page and had pink flyers up around the school. In order to encourage students to donate, they relied heavily on their club members taking action and spreading the word to their friends and classmates.

“Just doing [this donation] as students raises awareness for people. As students, you’re going into a world where you don’t know where you’re going to end up in the future and just knowing that there are places that will provide you with more necessities when you don’t have them, I think that’s great,” Siopack noted.