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Southwest Michigan group works to raise awareness on period poverty

J Ludeker and Sarah Koestler are packing up period kits for distribution. Care Collective of Southwest Michigan currently shares space with Habitat for Humanity on Fulford Street in Kalamazoo
Leona Larson
/
WMUK
J Ludeker and Sarah Koestler are packing up period kits for distribution. Care Collective of Southwest Michigan currently shares space with Habitat for Humanity on Fulford Street in Kalamazoo

About a quarter of all teenage girls in the U.S. miss school because they don’t have the menstrual period products they need. An organization in Kalamazoo is working to change that

It’s Period Poverty Awareness Week. For Care Collective of Southwest Michigan, that’s every week. The group provides discrete looking period kits in schools and other places in Kalamazoo County.

Sarah Koestler is the executive director.

She says more than half of Kalamazoo families don’t earn enough to meet basic needs. And period supplies are often cut from the family budget. She says:

“When teens have access to the products they need, they attend school, they feel reduced shame and stigma, and they can engage more in their school and community.”

Koestler says the goal this week is to raise awareness about period poverty. Her group hopes people consider posting on social media and volunteering or donating to non-profits like Care Collective, which also distributes diapers.

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