Period Promise campaign collecting menstrual hygiene products

Four students work together to wrap cardboard boxes in pink wrapping paper. Signs on the boxes read ‘donate here.”

Brock University student volunteers prepared boxes Friday, March 3 for the Period Promise menstrual hygiene product collection taking place from Monday, March 6 to Friday, March 24.

Brock’s United Way Committee is calling on the University community to donate tampons, pads, cups and other menstrual products to its annual Period Promise campaign.

The collection drive will run from Monday, March 6 to Friday, March 24, with various locations across campus accepting donations.

While United Way Niagara’s Period Promise campaign is set to take place throughout May, Brock has chosen to run its campaign while campus is still bustling with its full student population.

Colleen Whyte (BLRS ’97), Brock’s United Way Campaign Co-Chair and an Associate Professor with Recreation and Leisure Studies, says period poverty is a social issue that isn’t talked about enough. She challenges Brock students, staff, faculty and librarians to donate one box to help make menstrual hygiene products more accessible for those facing financial distress and additional challenges.

A group of 14 people holding cardboard boxes wrapped in pink paper with signs that read “donate here.”

Student volunteers distributed 17 Period Promise collection boxes across campus. The Brock community is encouraged to donate menstrual hygiene products such as pads, tampons and cups.

“Imagine having to choose between basic necessities, such as food and shelter, or safe period products,” she says. “It’s a reality far too many people in Niagara experience, but it’s something we can all easily help with.”

Cultural differences, gender identity and the stigma associated with having a period can make it difficult for people in need to ask for help.

Without proper period products, people who menstruate can face barriers to engaging in community life.

“They might purposely miss activities and opportunities because of their period or concerns about access to proper facilities or period products,” Whyte says. “It can impact their overall well-being.”

Menstrual hygiene products donated through Brock’s Period Promise campaign will be counted towards United Way Niagara’s community-wide initiative in May and will be distributed to local agencies and food banks across the Niagara region.

Prior to the Brock University Students’ Union funding free period products in Brock washrooms, the Brock Food First program was one of several community recipients.

Brock community members are asked to bring in unopened menstrual products to help ensure people in need have access to these essential items. Donations can be dropped in Period Promise collection boxes at the following locations: