Background

According to Callison & Howerton (2016), low-income teens frequently miss school during their periods because they lack access to menstrual supplies.  Menstrual products are routinely missing from donations to women’s shelters, facilities for the homeless, and food banks.  When menstruating girls need to miss school this becomes an issue of gender equality in education; getting these girls the supplies they need so they can get back in the classroom improves their shot at success.

The 5.55 Menstrual Hygiene Drive supplies 26 homeless girls in the Augusta County school system with feminine hygiene products so they can attend school with confidence — every day of the month.  It costs about $5.55 to supply one girl for one month.

The 5.55 Menstrual Hygiene Drive at Mary Baldwin University

Many people are shocked to discover that low-income adolescent girls in our local community may be missing days of school every month because they lack access to menstrual hygiene supplies. Although menstrual supplies only cost about $5.55 a month, in the state of Virginia they are taxable and not food-stamp eligible.

Through donations of cash and menstrual products from the Mary Baldwin community, local Staunton community, and others, the 5.55 Menstrual Hygiene Drive prepares “monthly boxes,” discrete gift boxes full of pads, tampons, small gifts, and personal, hand-written notes, for about 26 homeless girls enrolled in Augusta County middle- and high-schools.

Currently in its sixth year, this drive has raised about $7000 and supplied over 1200 monthly boxes, in addition to providing individual feminine hygiene gift bags to the Valley Mission; beginning a sister project to provide toiletries to homeless teen boys and girls now coming up on its third year; and developing initiatives to bring cost-free feminine supplies to MBU bathrooms and to encourage our state government to reconsider a failed initiative to remove sales tax from feminine products.

The 5.55 Menstrual Hygiene Drive provides a valuable service opportunity for MBU students and offers plenty of opportunity for student leadership. This service project is currently overseen by the Women’s Studies Program and may become a feature of the HERstory Women’s Studies Club.

To learn more, get involved, or make a donation, please contact Heather Macalister, Director of Women’s Studies at Mary Baldwin University or leave a message here.