The 2nd Annual Junior League of Montgomery WITKITS Drive on Saturday, September 10, 2022, was a smashing success! The fundraising event took place in front of the Walmart Chantilly in Montgomery, Alabama.
“We collected menstrual, dental and hygiene supplies to provide WITKITS to students in Montgomery Public Schools,” said Dr. LaKeshia Thomas, DMD, Women in Training Community Outreach Director. “Research from Plan International and Always report that 25 percent of American girls miss school, work and extracurricular activities because they cannot afford period products.”
Women in Training was instrumental in the unanimous passage in 2022 of Alabama’s House Bill 50, the period poverty law that allocates $200,000 to the Alabama Department of Education to provide menstrual products to students in Title I schools at no charge. The actual cost to provide monthly menstrual products to the more than 56,000 low-income menstruators in Alabama’s public schools is $3 million annually; therefore, Women in Training continues to help meet the gap through its WITKITS Campaign.
“JLM partnered with WIT to receive donations for hygiene items for the young women in our community who are not fortunate to be able to afford these basic necessities, said TaKenya Rogers, Chairperson for Women in Training Community Placement, Junior League of Montgomery. “Seeing the people come back out of Walmart with not just one or two items, but sometimes bags of items, reassured me of why I'm here, why JLM is here. To give back to our community, to serve.”
The Junior League of Montgomery’s WITKITS Drive is a fundraiser for Women In Training’s signature WITKITS Campaign to provide menstrual products and hygiene items to young, low-income people who menstruate. Because of the economic fallout from the pandemic, the number of girls and women who cannot afford menstrual products has increased from one in five to one in four, causing them to miss school, class, work or similar obligations because they do not have the products they need. Many girls who struggle to afford period products resort to using paper towels, rags, socks and other items that place their health in jeopardy.
If you missed the event, you may donate funds here.
