Gender Equality United States Project #44108

End Period Poverty and Give Girls, Women Hope

Project Report | Nov 29, 2022
School Partnerships Serve Diverse Student Needs

By Lyssa Schmidt | Development Director

When a family is struggling with personal or financial challenges, this can have grave impacts on youth’s ability to pursue a quality education. For example, a lack of period products is among the top reasons girls miss school.

Jake’s actively works to combat this issue through key partnerships with regional school districts, including Oshkosh, Appleton and Green Bay area schools. We provide pads and tampons for schools to stock for girls in need as part of our On the Dot program, and school staff can source diverse basic needs (from clothing to school supplies, hygiene, toys and more) from our My Neighbor Wisconsin Hope Hub resource center.

Here’s a few examples from 2022:

“We are providing free period products in our bathrooms for high school students. This is very helpful to keep them in school during this time for them.” — Kelly Wick, Appleton Area School district/Appleton East High school

“Our intermediate female students now have a locker designated for period products that they can access at any time they need. The products in the locker came from Jake's Network! We have already had students use the locker.” — Leah Zwiers, Jefferson Elementary School, AASD

“Children feel more confident to attend and engage with peers when they are well groomed and cared for at home!” — Mackenzie Harness, Oshkosh Area School District - Ready 4 Learning

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Oct 25, 2022
Jake's Partnership with AASD Elementary School

By Lyssa Schmidt | Development Director

“Making Connections that Count.” That’s the inspiring motto that staff at Jefferson Elementary School in the Appleton Area School District focus their education programs around for its students, kindergarten to sixth grade.

Jefferson is one of the seven elementary schools in the Appleton Area School District to be a part of the Achievement Gap Reduction (AGR) Program.

The AGR program requires a participating school to create performance objectives, including reducing the achievement gap between low−income students and students in the same grade and subject statewide.

As a way to help make connections that count, Jefferson Elementary School has partnered with Jake’s to provide their intermediate students with pads, liners and tampons to enable students to reach their true academic, emotional, physical and social potential while inspiring them to discover their inner passion to learn.

“Our intermediate female students now have a locker designated for period products that they can access at any time they need. The products in the locker came from Jake's Network! We have already had students use the locker and they are so grateful they don't have to worry about having the necessary products,” said Leah Zwiers, Community Schools Resource Coordinator.

We are very proud to be partnered with Jefferson Elementary School to tackle period poverty through our On The Dot Program to provide dignity for girls through equality and access to period products.

Period poverty, or the lack of access to menstrual products, education, hygiene facilities, or waste management, can keep girls and women from attending school, work and participating in society. Today, period poverty affects an estimated 500 million people worldwide each year.

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Sep 22, 2022
Jake's Stocks Little Free Hygiene Library

By Lyssa Schmidt | Development Director

Nationally, 14% of college students struggled with affording period products. The inability to afford period products is tied with that individual's mental health: studies show that those who’ve struggled with period products in the past year are more likely to be depressed.

The Mulva Library at St. Norbert’s College has partnered with Jake’s Network of Hope to stock its “Little Free Hygiene Library” with period supplies, to ensure all students on campus have access to menstruation products.

“Donated period supplies will be stocked in the Mulva Library's "Little Free Hygiene Library" for users to access 24 hours, 7 days a week at no cost and no qualifying factor,” said Jasmine Gordon, Community Engagement Specialist at the Mulva Library. “After surveying students on our campus, we have actualized the immense impact of food insecurity and therefore, can envision the demand for period products and other general hygiene related products. To ensure dignity of users, period products will be available in a private, unmonitored area.”

The Mulva Library is the campus’s hub and haven for not only the St. Norbert College community, but also the surrounding public. It is a space where all are welcome.

“In conjunction with the overarching mission of the institution as a whole, the Mulva Library's mission is to offer a space where people and ideas converge and spark the creation of new knowledge,” Gordon said. “As the intellectual heart of campus, we work to provide a place where students, faculty, staff and the wider community can learn, innovate, collaborate and find that important time to reflect.”

This program is needed on campus to support students' needs and to address hygiene equity. Jake’s is proud to partner with the Mulva Library to provide dignity for girls and women through equality and access to period products. We know that period products are essential tools to keep girls and women in school, at work and participating in society when they cannot otherwise obtain period products on their own.

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