A troop of Girl Scouts from Riverside is hosting a donation drive for period products to benefit people in the region who menstruate but cannot afford to buy these products themselves.
In working toward their Bronze Award, the highest achievement for Girl Scouts Juniors in the fourth and fifth grades, the girls of Troop 47220 are hosting the product drive. Collection bins have been placed around Riverside, including at the Riverside Public Library, to benefit the Share Food Share Love food pantry in Brookfield.
The drive will run until Saturday, Dec. 13, when the troop will host a final collection event at the Riverside Swim Club from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. A blood drive will also happen concurrently at the swim club for those who wish to donate to two causes at once.
“Pads normally go out first, so that would be the product we need the most, probably,” said Claire Marx, one of four fifth graders from Central Elementary who spoke to the Landmark on behalf of the troop, accompanied by troop leaders Mandi Altepeter and Megan Claucherty, who is also a former village trustee.
While pads are the menstrual product most taken by women who visit the pantry, Claucherty said the troop will accept donations of all kinds of period products, including tampons as well as menstrual cups and period underwear, which are both reusable.
The group said the idea for the donation drive was one of several Altepeter and Claucherty presented to the troop for their Bronze Award.
“We all kind of chose this as the one we want to do. We brainstormed a lot of ideas for how we could get these things, and we said these ones would probably be the most effective,” said Violet Filipkowski, another member of the troop.
“Girl Scouts is meant to be girl-led. The girls take a role in figuring out what we do and how we do it. We came up with some ideas for them; we talked about whether they wanted to do a Bronze Award, which is a bigger project, because these girls are now in fifth grade,” Claucherty said. “We’re a troop full of Girl Scouts, right? This is an issue that affects girls and women, and we talked about that a lot.”
Altepeter and troop members said they were inspired to gather donations for the food pantry after a group visit where the girls volunteered.
“We stocked. We helped with the people getting their food, and we also helped with other things around the donations,” said Robin Barrs, a member of the troop.
The Girl Scouts said the donation drive posed an opportunity to help others like them while learning more about period products and volunteerism alike.
“We can learn about it while helping other women in need, in other communities and here in our community,” said Neve Lumell, a troop member.
“Girls support girls,” Violet said.
