UIS club donates feminine hygiene products for local residents in need
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WICS/WRSP) — Food insecurity is on the rise right now in central Illinois, but the Period Club at the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) says getting access to products like tampons and pads can be just as challenging.
Kassie Mruk is president of the Period Club, which is just one chapter of a larger international movement.
Founded in 2017, the club has distributed thousands of products across different states and even countries to those who experience menstruation.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, however, Mruk said the number of local residents who struggle to purchase these products has grown.
"They don't even have the money for food sometimes, so knowing that they don't have the money for this product — it's not right,” Mruk said, “This shouldn't be a struggle. Period poverty shouldn't be a struggle."
The Period Club has already donated to several Springfield shelters and micropantries, and plans to keep expanding.
Mruk said the group holds annual fundraising events like bake sales to purchase all the supplies themselves, which include an array of different products. She said the club spends almost every dollar on purchasing more products.
With the pandemic, though, it's been especially difficult to hold those gatherings, according to Mruk.
If you’d like to donate products or make a monetary donation to the Period Club, you can contact Mruk directly at kmruk2@uis.edu
Mruk said her work as president of the Period Club has inspired her to continue advocacy work after graduating next year.
