A UW-Madison student organization exchanged paint and canvas for menstrual products and monetary donations in the Student Activity Center Wednesday night.
KORA — a student group aiming to empower and encourage women leaders — gave canvas, paint and brushes to students and community members who donated unopened menstrual hygiene products or a sum of money to the organization in an effort to advocate for the mental and physical health of homeless women in the Dane County area.
The group collected approximately 400 individual tampons, over 450 individual pads and raised enough money to purchase two additional boxes of pads. They plan to donate all collected items to the Dane County Salvation Army, which will then be distributed to the Family Shelter and the Single Women's Shelter.
According to UW-Madison freshman and KORA vice president Rose Lee, obtaining menstrual hygiene products can be difficult for many people. She said holding this event will help raise awareness about menstrual product accessibility issues.
“I think highlighting [accessibility issues] here and just kind of educating people about periods and menstrual hygiene will go a long way,” Lee said.
Growing up in New York, Kacie Luo — a UW-Madison freshman and KORA member — witnessed homelessness first-hand.
Luo said homelessness is “prominent” in many cities, adding that it is important for women — especially teens who have irregular menstrual cycles — to have these products.
“When people think of homelessness, they think of clothes and food,” Luo said. “They don’t think of feminine hygiene products, so there are a lot of scarce resources in those parts of homelessness in general.”
UW-Madison students, faculty and community members showed up to paint and donate.
Sarah Dlugos, a UW-Madison junior, attended the event to destress and donate a pack of tampons because menstrual products are “super expensive.”
“If you are homeless, the last thing you should worry about is something you can’t control,” Dlugos said.