Until Friday, April 13, the Student Government Association (SGA) will be collecting items for their Go With the Flow Drive in the SGA office on the second floor of the Smith Student Center.
According to SGA’s CORE page, “Go With the Flow is a campaign organized by the Social Justice Committee of SGA to collect tampons and other menstrual products to donate to VOICe, the Victims Outreach Intervention Center, which is located in Butler.”
The Social Justice Committee of SGA has been preparing for this event since December when they started making posters and creating CORE forms while also inviting organizations to join them
Senior English literary, film and cultural studies major and SGA Social Justice Chair Victoria Davis said that menstrual products do not often get donated to shelters because of the negative stigma around them.
“We wanted to get people excited about donating these products specifically because there is such a negative stigma around them,” Davis said.
Senate members are available to catalog and accept donations on Monday, April 9 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm, as well as the next two Fridays (April 6 and 13) from 11:00 am to noon.
Why should people donate to Go with The Flow? Davis offered some insight.
“Let’s be real, a lot of people hate buying tampons for themselves let alone for other people,” Davis said. “That’s how strong and negative the stigma around periods is. While first and foremost, we want to donate to a great organization, part of our desire to do this drive is because of our hope that it will help destigmatize periods and menstruation at least at SRU. ”
SGA has gotten incredible support for this event from outside organizations, including Fraternity and Sorority Life. One of Davis’ favorite parts about this drive is that “so many of my male colleagues in SGA have asked me what the best brands, kinds, and sizes [of menstrual products] are, so that they can donate just as individuals.”
If you want to find out more about SGA, follow them on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @SRSGA.
Disclaimer: Victoria Davis is an editor on The Rocket staff and was not involved in the decision to cover this drive.
