HRA Hosts Feminine Products Drive

by Carly Smith, SSLI '25

For the past few weeks, the Human Rights Activists (HRA) Club has been holding a drive to collect feminine hygiene products. The drive began on March 20, in honor of Women’s History Month, and will end on April 17. All proceeds from the drive are going to the organization Safe Center Long Island.

Boxes are located in the lobby for all donations. (E. Schlissel)

Co-president of HRA Elinor Schlissel explained that Women’s History Month inspired the club to look “at various social issues women face in the world, and one of them was period poverty.” Schlissel continued, “Period poverty is the lack of access to adequate feminine hygiene products and education. This idea resonated with many of us, and we decided to host a drive to do something about it.”

After discussing what to do for their next drive, Schlissel explained that the HRA members “agreed that access to adequate feminine hygiene products is a basic human right that many are being deprived of, [and] much of the world is unaware of that fact."

Junior Samson Mildron, one of the other co-presidents of the club, expressed that this drive is important so “we can push past this cultural taboo in order to help others who are not as fortunate as ourselves.” Schlissel stated, “Around 40% of the world’s population experiences period poverty, and over half of the population are victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.” Sophomore Micah Bidner, a member of the club, emphasized, “It is so important to educate people on this topic because education is one of the fundamental steps towards an equitable and equal world.”

Schlissel explained that the purpose of Safe Center Long Island is to help sexual assault “victims cope with their experiences and provide them with the resources to recover for free.” Schlissel added, “The Safe Center not only accepts feminine hygiene products but a variety of helpful products that are given to victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault,” which is why the club decided to donate to them.

HRA members have been educating each other on the importance of women’s rights. Bidner explained, “We have recently been seeing many different presentations on social and human rights abuses worldwide. Recently, Aviva Wolf and I presented our AP Seminar TMP [Team Multimedia Presentation], which was on feminine shame worldwide, including how menstruation affects women across the world.”

Sophomore Emma Roth donated many items to the drive. Roth said, “I love giving back to my community and helping people in need. My grandmother and I started a tradition [when] I was six years old, where we would always go to the toy stores during the holidays and buy food for people around Thanksgiving and the high holidays. Since the start of that tradition, each time I see a donation drive happening, I help out. It makes me happy to know that my small contributions can make a big difference in someone's life."

Mildron concluded, “I hope that the HRA club can successfully connect with the greater Schechter Kehillah as a whole and collect more and more feminine hygiene products to help our neighbors in need. Donate today!”

Carly Smith is an editor for Paw Print Now and has been published on the site since November 2021. Carly is currently a sophomore at the Schechter School of Long Island and can be reached at the following email address: csmith25@schechterli.org.