During the week of December 9, the SHS Dance Team partnered with 914Cares, a nonprofit organization that provides for the less fortunate in Westchester, and Alliance for Period Supplies, a network organization dedicated to reducing period poverty, to collect pads, tampons, and other feminine products to donate to girls in the Bronx, Yonkers, and other areas in the community in need of period products.
The team collected donations from outside of the school community as well. “I think reaching outside of the school was the most successful part in the amount of people who donated and the boxes we received,” Dance Team member Claire Breslow ’27 shared. Breslow and captains Victoria Roberts ’26 and Ana Enge ’25 set up stands outside CVS and talked with people from other districts, such as New Rochelle, to ask for donations and spread awareness on period poverty. By the end of the week, the dance team had trunks filled with period supplies to send off.
“So many different people donated,” Breslow noted. “Men, women, children, and elderly folk – it really restored my faith in society.” The drive also provided an opportunity for the dance team to spread awareness on period poverty without shying away from a supposedly taboo topic.
Advertising the drive on social media also increased reach and captured attention on the issue. “Most people are afraid to talk about periods in general, but we were able to overcome this by creating funny social media posts to normalize and encourage conversation about periods,” Roberts said, “Even though we struggle with the pain that comes with our periods, we’re extremely lucky to not worry about affording products to help.”
All in all, the period drive hosted by the dance team helped those in period poverty to better access products – collecting over 10,000 donations – as well as educating a larger school audience on the issue and breaking the stigma surrounding menstruation.
