South Australian not-for-profit organisation, KickStart for Kids (KSFK), is desperately calling on donations of sanitary items as part of its mission to help end period poverty in South Australia.
Sadly, 1 in 4 South Australian females experience period poverty.
KickStart For Kids launched a new program in 2021, KickStart For Kids Against Period Poverty. It aims to raise awareness, support, and funds for South Australian girls experiencing period poverty.
Period Poverty refers to the issue of women and girls lacking access to sanitary products, menstrual hygiene education, washing facilities, and waste management.
Kickstart for Kids is a not-for-profit organisation founded in 2009 by Ian Steel that helps disadvantaged school children in South Australia by providing 50,000 breakfasts and 10,000 lunches every week.
As a firm supporter in the fight against Period Poverty, Kickstart for Kids created the Period Poverty program where sanitary items will be distributed to over 350 South Australian schools.
The South Australian Government announced in February 2021 that they will pledge $450,000 over the next three years to provide hygiene products to girls in schools from year five onwards. This covers only 1250 young women annually, leaving a gap of potentially thousands of girls without access to hygiene products in schools per year and in some cases an education.
A survey conducted by the South Australian Office of Commissioner for Children and Young people found 1 in 4 girls had missed out attending school due to not having access to feminine hygiene products and 1 in 2 reported not having access to products or not knowing how to get access to products at school.
In a 2019 report by the Commissioner for Children & Young People, it was revealed that 74% of schools believe that access to sanitary products is an issue for their students, and in an additional 2020 report, 51% of respondents reported not having access to products or not knowing how to access sanitary products at school. Furthermore, the 2020 report revealed that 26% of participants had missed school because their families couldn’t afford sanitary items and many students reported feeling embarrassed about having their period due to the stigma surrounding periods.
Founder of KickStart For Kids, Ian Steel, says that period poverty is not just an issue happening overseas, it is right here in our backyard.
“There is still a long way to go in eliminating period poverty in South Australia. We owe it to the girls of South Australia. Getting involved can simply be raising awareness of the issue within the community or making a donation on our website so we can provide sanitary products,” Ian says.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
The aim for this campaign is to raise $100,000 to help provide 25,000 packs of sanitary pads to over 2000 young South Australian women to help manage their periods for 12 months.
The program has grown rapidly and KickStart for Kids now provides 1000 packs of pads and 200 packs of tampons to 200 schools every month.
You can help a young South Aussie girl experiencing period poverty now by making a donation today. Donations can be made via:
- Special donation boxes located across all 37 National Pharmacies stores in South Australia
- Dropping them off at the KSFK warehouse – 87 James Melrose Rd, Novar Gardens SA 5040
- For online monetary donations, please click link below
DONATE HERE
For more information and all enquiries please visit the Kickstart Against Period Poverty website.
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Image Source: images supplied (Image credit: One Cast Media)
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