Free period products are now being provided to Covington Public students who cannot afford them or do not have access to purchase them.
Covington Independent Public Schools has teamed up with Covington Partners, a United Way Agency Partner, to bring the Pink Link Project to schools and community centers.
Some students are faced with a choice every month: find a ride to the store and the money to purchase feminine products or stay home. Invisible barriers like this are what Covington Partners focuses on eliminating by providing support to break the cycle of generational poverty.
By working with students and their families both inside and outside the school, they build the trust needed by listening, engaging, and eliminating boundaries many in the city of Covington quietly face.Â
Ashley McClure, associate director of Covington Partners said the initiative started at a ground level.
“We started just a couple years ago, through one of our board members,” McClure said. “They heard about the need of period products for students in Covington and we started off collecting donations of funds and products. We had an overwhelming response, and we wanted to take it to the next level.”
McClure said they started putting together pink tackle boxes with period products “stationed across the district in school bathrooms, counselors’ offices, community learning centers.”
Students can take what they need with “no questions asked” and as the boxes empty there are student ambassadors who let organizers know what needs refilled and “spread the message to other students.”
The Pink Link program continues to grow as the students become more comfortable voicing their needs. The products offered by the program are expanding, and the Pink Link Project recently leveled the playing field for female athletes by providing properly fitting performance sports bras.
“We had no idea it was going to take off as it has, it was an overwhelming response from both the community and the students,” McClure said.
If you would like to join the movement, donations of products and funds are always welcome. Click here to learn more.
