Sacramento Waldorf School Students Embrace the Homeless Period Project for the 3rd Year
Ourschool is committed to helping our community, and the world aroundus. All year long, our high school students devote a lot of energyand talent to community service projects, inspiring the rest of ourcommunity to give and volunteer.
This month, we are collecting menstrual hygiene products for the Homeless Period Project, an annual effort that began with the leadership of an alumnus and grew exponentially in the years since we first got involved. Last year, we amassed some 1,500 packs of products collected into large Ziploc bags and donated to this nationwide effort, which then distributes the donations to schools and homeless centers.
Guided by Student Council Advisor Melissa Hiatt and led this year by Student Council leaders Riley Day and Tyler Cochran-Branson, we are overflowing donations – thank you to our community!
“TheHomeless Period Project is a really important organization,” saysTyler Cochran-Branson. “I take having pads and tampons for granted,and I can’t imagine living without them. Donating period packs notonly helps women in the Sacramento area, but also raises awarenessand brings to our attention the privilege we experience in our ownlives and at Sacramento Waldorf School.”
“Byrecognizing our own privilege and using it to help others, we makethe world we are about to go into better,” Tyler notes. “And, atits very core, that is what Waldorf education is about: usingeducation and knowledge and exposure to positively impact the world.”
Whydid we take on this cause? Mainly because we wanted to help in anarea that is sorely needed.
Many people donate food and clothing to benefit people who experience homelessness. In the Sacramento region, homelessness is a growing and steady problem. Our climate (as in much of California) attracts a larger homeless population than in colder areas of our country. The homeless population in our state is growing at a rate far greater than our nation and other states are seeing.
And,we might not fully grasp the many challenges that accompanyhomelessness. For instance, people experiencing homelessness whomenstruate may not attend school or go to work if they don’t haveproducts to address their monthly flow. What’s more, in place ofthe lack of hygienic products, they may turn to rags and otherunsanitary substitutes, and with the already-existing lack of accessto sanitation, this can increase the risk of infection.
Menstrualhygiene products are the least donated items to shelters. People givetoothbrushes, clothing, non-perishable food items, and more.
Thisyear, says Melissa Hiatt, we are expanding our consciousness of thiseffort to gather as many paper-based products as possible, todovetail with our year-long focus on climate change and environmentalconsciousness on campus.
“Weare trying to help, especially young women in our area, attendschool, have jobs, be able to eat and have a safe life,” saysHiatt.
The Homeless Period Project came to our school as a senior project by 2018 graduate Cole Dupzyk. Student Council took it over last year, after Cole graduated, and this year marks our third year running with this project.
Last year, we tripled the amount that we gathered the first year. During the week of February 10th, we will gather during lunch for packing parties, where students will fill Ziploc bags with donated items to donate en masse to the local Homeless Period Project headquarters for widespread distribution.
“Thefirst year that we did it, we held a very large assembly and I thinkpeople were significantly blown away at the idea, and really excitedto be doing something that could have so much impact,” Hiatt says.“Our struggles with homelessness in Sacramento are big. We don’thave enough beds all winter long. Many of our students volunteer atchurch and shelter locations to help feed people experiencinghomelessness.”
“At school, in looking for serviceopportunities and awareness-raising, we’ve tried to bring projectsthat our students can have impact on people their own age, where itcan feel real and present, people who live here in this community,who are having a really different experience than the blessed andprivileged state that our students live in,” Hiatt adds.