EUCLID, Ohio — Tampons and pads are expensive, but a local nonprofit is working to make the products more accessible and free to Euclid City School District students.
RELATED: Euclid nonprofit aims to end period poverty
In May, I told you about A Better Euclid packing feminine hygiene bags to pass out to women in need.
Since then, it has developed.
"We're trying to bridge the gap in the poverty cycle and make sure that the women in Euclid have their needs met," A Better Euclid co-founder, Natalie Pajak, said.
Pajak's idea of closing the gap on period poverty started growing on her birthday last year.
"She posted the registry on our Facebook page and said this is what I want for my birthday, and the first year was like maybe $2,000 to $3,000 worth of care products came in," A Better Euclid's founder, Dani Pajak, said. "I mean, it's just showing up, and I'm like, this is insane."
Dani said that the amount doubled when Pajak asked for the same thing on her most recent birthday.
With how willing people were to donate, a light bulb illuminated for Pajak.
A Better Euclid has partnered up with Hospeco, a Richmond Heights-based company that creates products that improve the health, well-being, and comfort of people where they work and gather.
Through Hospeco, a $5,600 donation of feminine care products was presented to the Euclid City School District this year.
"(Hospeco) came up with the idea of doing a one-time donation to the pantry, which would be 40,000 [products] approximate," Pajak said.
On Oct. 8, the Euclid City School District voted on whether to accept the donation.
To no one's surprise, it was a unanimous yes.
"They embraced it. They were happy and grateful, so they were very, very grateful for it," Pajak said. "The next step is getting the product to the girls in the school."
This will be a one-time donation to the Family Resource Center.
The products will be made available semester-round.
"Not only will you have the dispensers for the products, you have like the sanitary bags and everything to get rid of it. It's all gonna be in the stall," Pajak said. "For the schools, like this kind of stuff is not even a budgetary item. It's not even on a list of stuff to buy. It's so often overlooked."
Once we get word on when that donation will be made available to students, we'll follow through.
Dani said he's extremely proud of his wife for the strides she has made in ending period poverty.
"I'm a proud husband. I've seen this start as a hey, this is what I think I want to do to, 'Hey, we're getting thousands upon thousands of dollars for the women of Euclid for these products at no cost to them.' So it's really neat to ride along shotgun with these things," Dani said.
Pajak said she hopes her initiative sparks a change in her community and pushes others to help those in need.
"I think people don't realize that if you act on an idea and follow through, you can make a big, big difference in your neighborhood. It doesn't take a huge amount of effort. It just takes having an idea and pursuing that idea," she said.
If you'd like to donate to A Better Euclid, CLICK HERE.
