The United Way Peterborough & District’s 10th annual Period Promise campaign has collected 41,556 menstrual hygiene products for those in need.
The results, announced at noon on Monday (March 16) at the United Way’s office at 277 Stewart Street, far exceed the campaign goal of collecting 25,000 products, and is almost double the 2022 record of 23,000 products.
Formerly called Tampon Tuesday, the Period Promise campaign collected 29,366 pads, 4,533 liners, 7,550 tampons, 55 reusable period underwear, 26 cups, 12 disposable discs, seven reusable pads, and seven disposable underwear.
The donated products, with an estimated value of $20,725, will be distributed by Kawartha Food Share to local food banks and other agencies to get items into the hands of those who struggle to afford them on their own.
According to a 2023 survey, one in four people in Canada who menstruate have had to choose between purchasing menstrual products and purchasing other essential items like food or paying rent. This could result in people relying on unsafe alternatives, like using a product for too long, or missing out on school, work, and social events because they don’t have the right protections.
In addition to collecting menstrual hygiene products, the Period Promise campaign was intended to open opportunities for dialogue about menstruation and make people who menstruate — including women, trans men, and non-binary people — more comfortable discussing the realities of their bodily experience by focusing on inclusion, awareness building, advocacy, and greater diversity of product options.
“We still have a lot of work to do in terms of normalizing menstruating as a whole, as this process is not talked about nearly enough,” said Lindsay Young, trans peer outreach worker and trans family support worker at Canadian Mental Health Association, Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge, in a media release.
“One big step moving forward would be to talk about the way different bodies menstruate, allowing for more inclusive and diverse products and conversations.”
In that spirit, Monday’s campaign announcement was preceded by a free informal workshop led by holistic menstrual health guide Heather Litster of Moon & Bloom and Women and HIV/AIDS initiative coordinator Meagan Vaughan at Peterborough AIDS Resource Network (PARN). The workshop covered menstrual health foundations and issues surrounding period poverty, as well as recommending ways the community can work together to advance menstrual equity.
The United Way team behind the Period Promise — campaign community impact officer Elisha Rubacha and campaign officers Elyse Belsey and Adeline Murphy — was supported by Peterborough & District Labour Council (represented at the announcement by Trish Bucholtz), Kawartha Food Share (represented at the announcement by Ashlee Aitken), and kawarthaNOW as media sponsor.
The team collaborated with several organizations and workplaces, including three International Women’s Day events hosted by Kawartha World Issues Centre, The Tiffany Show, and Delta Phi Nu at Trent University that ran menstrual product drives as part of their events.
Several workplaces also ran internal collection drives, the City of Peterborough provided three public drop-off locations at City Hall, Miskin Law Community Complex, and the Peterborough Public Library. The Women’s Business Network of Peterborough kicked off this year’s Period Promise campaign by donating 6,101 items alone — representing nearly one quarter of this year’s goal.
With files by Megan Gallant.
