DIGNITY DRIVES
PERIOD PRODUCTS DIGNITY DRIVE - Ongoing
START is appreciative of donations of period products (pads, tampons, and menstrual cups) as we help to combat period poverty in Stoughton.
What is “Period Poverty”?
Period Poverty is the lack of access to menstrual hygiene products and community education.
Period Poverty is a Public Health Crisis.
1 in 3 low income individuals report missing school or work due to lack of access to period supplies.
Without access to sanitary products, many individuals are forced to use items like rags, paper towels, toilet paper, or cardboard.
Some ration sanitary products by using them for extended amounts of time or reuse pads.
These practices put menstruators at a heightened risk for major health issues.
Poor menstrual hygiene has a significant influence on mental health, linking the menstrual cycle to a negative feeling and leaving people who menstruate ashamed.
Did you know?
Wisconsin taxes menstrual products as luxury items.
Access to menstrual products is a right. No student should have to miss school, no adult should have to miss work, and no person should have to miss out on daily life because they are unable to afford the basic necessities they require to thrive.
TUSHIES & TOES DIGNITY DRIVE - Ongoing
Socks and underwear are basic necessities we often take for granted thought we know a fresh pair of underwear or socks just makes you feel better. Especially for kids, the physical and emotional aspect of wearing underwear and socks that fit, help with self-confidence and learning.
SOCKS & UNDERWEAR FOR EVERYONE - Ongoing
Imagine being a parent having to make a choice between putting food on the table or buying new underwear for your kids.
Imagine being a preteen youth and feeling uncomfortable being active in gym (a required class) because you don't have the support of a bra.
Imagine being a man who works long hours at a factory job but is unable to move around comfortably without the protection and dignity underwear brings.
Imagine being homeless, living in your car and not having clean underwear. In addition to no underwear, you have just one pair of socks. To keep your feet warm, you wear the same socks for weeks. Your feet never air out so the aroma of dirty socks in your car becomes bad enough, you just have to throw them away. Now you have no underwear or socks.
Imagine being a child who walks to school every day in all seasons of Wisconsin weather but because your family cannot afford socks, so your feet become blistered and painful.
It is unimaginable, isn't it?
When community members are in crisis, struggling to pay rent or put food on the table, necessary under garments and socks are not affordable.
Stoughton Area Resource Team (START) & Joining Forces for Families (JFF) will team up once more to raise awareness by collecting socks and underwear (underpants and bras) for all ages and genders to give to our neighbors in need.