PERIOD! Drive

Story Isu Park

On Tuesday, Jan. 31, a student lead period product drive launched on campus. Run by senior Sarah Chung, the drive is collecting all period hygiene products as donations for the South Pasadena Public Library.

Chung collaborated with the SPHS .GEN club and their president, senior Stephanie Law, to organize this donation drive and gather all of the needed materials.

.GEN became South Pasadena’s first menstrual equity organization in 2020, initially working to change school policies on menstrual health and empowering the spread of accurate information on reproductive health and social issues like period poverty.

education and support. Meetings held every month consist of student-athletes congregating in room 921 to have interactive games.

“Personally, I have seen the role mental health plays in sports as a whole and athletic performance. I feel this concept gets dismissed, and there tends to be a clear stigma around dealing with mental health as an athlete,” Ramos said. “Some believe it can make you seem weak, and mental health is less significant in comparison to physical health. In reality, they are so intertwined that the line between the two is blurry.”

The club partnered with a sports psychologist that came to SPHS to organize a discussion on athlete mental health with the sports coaches in December of 2022. The professional trained the coaches on sports performance

In the past, the club organized educational workshops examining these topics. .GEN began collaborating with Chung in November of 2022 to conduct donation drives for the library.

“.GEN has hosted donation drives in both December and February to supply Sarah with menstrual products for her Gold Award Project,” .GEN President Stephanie Law asserted. “We may also be checking in a couple times every month at the South Pasadena Public Library to see if their bathrooms are stocked with these products.”

Chung chose this project as her Girl Scouts Gold Award project, inspired by the period product shortage that occurred over the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

After California law instated a requirement of all public schools to carry period products in bathrooms, Chung felt there should be a way to extend these effects.

The club hosts resources and opens up room for discussion of mental health within a community of student-athletes. The space allows people to gather and share their own experiences as well as keep from isolating themselves.

Ramos emphasizes the importance of connection with other people of the same circumstance to talk about the struggles and bring awareness to the prevalent issue.

“You will find that more people have the same struggles as you than you would believe. It is so important to be able to form a community where you feel safe to open up about anything,” Ramos said. “Explore activities that you enjoy, and find an outlet. Being a high schooler is stressful and everyone acknowledges that, [so] find your safe space.”

The club’s next meeting is likely to be scheduled to be during the first week of March.

“We should be expanding this accessibility of products to other public spaces, too, like the library,” Chung said. Moreover, Chung decided the optimal way to carry her drive was through the SPHS campus:

“This is also about involving the student body; a lot of people at our school and in our neighborhood have the resources to donate.”

In coordinating with the South Pasadena Public Library alongside .GEN, Chung hopes to successfully complete her project, with a goal of enough products to sustain two months of donations to the library.

Any donations, including pads, tampons, and panty liners, are being collected in the SAC room from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. every school day throughout February to Friday, March 3.