OUR MISSION
'The Pad Program' is a student run program with a goal to supply Ames students with free feminine products. You can help by bringing boxes of pads and tampons into the Ames Middle School student services office! You can also donate online through our Venmo.
A small station with donated supplies will be set up in each of the girls’ bathrooms. These supplies will be more accessible and higher quality than the products provided in the dispensers. If you are interested in making this program possible, we would greatly appreciate any support!
OUR GOALS
We have several long term and short term goals for this project. In the near future when we have enough donations, we hope to expand to gender neutral bathrooms as well as female ones. Additionally, we would like to have a similar program at other Ames schools.
SHORT TERM
Stock gender neutral and staff bathrooms with period supplies
Start a similar program at other local schools
Get attention from local news sources
LONG TERM
Help have a law created in Iowa requiring schools to supply free pads and tampons in female and gender neutral bathrooms
Start programs such as this one in other states and schools
Why is it important for schools to supply free feminine products?
23% of U.S. students struggle to afford period products.
Other students might forget to bring their own, and not have a quarter to buy them from a dispenser- and most students don't carry around change. So, they might ask a (potentially male) teacher for a pad- a teacher that has to buy these products themselves, with their own money. Or, they may ask a teacher for a pass to the nurse, the only school funded way to get free pads.
Then, while still in need of a menstrual product, the student walks across the school to the nurse then all the way back before getting to a bathroom to use the product they took- all the while, the student may be bleeding through.
These issues can all be solved by having free pads supplied in bathrooms.
Why should I donate?
By donating, you are doing more than just dropping off a box a pads. The products you donate will benefit all students who have periods.
By donating pads, you are supporting students in more ways than one.
"Lack of access to menstrual supplies can have an impact on education. Without access to supplies, students often miss class or do not participate as vigorously for fear of leakage and embarrassment," states Spoon University. It's true- Many students are late to class or miss valuable learning time while trying to acquire a pad or tampon.
We believe that having easy access to pads will encourage open conversation about periods. Thus, students will be less embarrassed about period, a natural part of life.
If you are someone who has periods, you know- it is an awful situation to start your period and have no easy access to the necessary supplies. By donating, you are helping students avoid this situation.