By Ashley M. Casey

Associate Editor

Each month, thousands of adolescents in the United States and low- and middle-income countries miss school. They’re not playing hooky — they simply don’t have access to basic hygiene supplies such as pads and tampons.

A group of Nottingham High School students is working to end this so-called “period poverty.” Nottingham’s Girl Up Club, in partnership with Planned Parenthood and The Sweet Praxis bakery in downtown Syracuse, held a “Period Party” Dec. 3 to collect pads and tampons for Refugee and Immigrant Self-Empowerment (RISE) Syracuse.

Girl Up is an organization formed by the United Nations with 3,300 clubs across the world dedicated to achieving gender equality.

“Their main mission is girls standing up for each other across the world,” said Nottingham Girl Up member Maryam Al Mafrachi.

Al Mafrachi said the club has been planning the Period Party since last year.

“We didn’t have strong sponsors that were willing to work with us,” she said. “We tried again this year because it’s something we really believed in.”

The period supplies drive became a reality after Planned Parenthood of Central and Western New York agreed to partner with the club. Planned Parenthood volunteers brought the idea to The Sweet Praxis, which agreed to hold the kickoff event and collect donations of pads and tampons through Dec. 18.

“It just felt like a natural partnership,” said Alex Dukat, public affairs organizer for Planned Parenthood, which has organized similar menstrual supply drives in the past.

Dukat said the students are starting conversations about access to hygiene supplies among LGBTQ individuals, incarcerated people and those dealing with homelessness and poverty.

“Not only are they breaking down the barriers about talking about periods in general, they’re bringing in that equality piece of where menstrual products are in their school, who has access,” they said.

Part of the concept behind the Period Party and supplies drive is to break down the taboo of talking about menstruation.

“It’s something that everyone goes through and it’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Al Mafrachi said.

“Now I’m comfortable talking about it,” said member Amina Salahou.

The Nottingham Girl Up Club’s menstrual mission extends past collecting supplies for RISE. Club President Martine Dosa said the club is working to make pads and tampons more readily available in school bathrooms. As of the 2018-2019 school year, New York state law requires schools serving grades 6-12 to provide these items for students.

“We’re working with our school to make sure they’re actually following through,” Dosa said.

Girl Up members put together baskets of pads and tampons with signs reading, “Don’t be shy — take one.”

“We would tell our friends, ‘Oh, there are pads and tampons in the bathrooms — you don’t have to go all the way to the nurse,’” Dosa said.

Nottingham’s Girl Up Club is open to students of all genders.

“We decided that boys need to be aware of these things just as much as females do,” Al Mafrachi said.

“When we first made the baskets, we had the males in our club help us,” said member Anisa Salahou. “Feminism isn’t just about girls. It’s about equality.”

Dosa noted that trans men and nonbinary people may deal with periods, too.

“Menstruators might not all be girls,” she said.

Lauren Olszewski is the faculty advisor for Girl Up at Nottingham. She said the club’s efforts were “impressive.”

“They used a lot of time, a lot of energy [to plan the Period Party],” she said. “Props to them for thinking of it and reaching out to people.”

The Sweet Praxis will accept packages of disposable menstrual products and monetary donations for RISE Syracuse through Dec. 18. Anyone who donates can receive a free small coffee. The bakery is located at 203 E. Water St. in the city of Syracuse.

To learn more about Girl Up’s mission, visit girlup.org. Nottingham High School’s Girl Up Club is on Instagram @nottinghamgirlup.