Teen making difference with Period Project

Initiative with the Food Bank is great way to help Yuma women

One Yuma teen saw a need in our community, and now, she’s striving to make a difference.

Quinn Nemeth, 16, recently launched the Yuma Period Project in conjunction with the Yuma Community Food Bank after learning about the struggles low-income women have in affording menstrual products like sanitary pads and tampons.

In Arizona, such items are taxed as a luxury item, and they aren’t covered by Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. So if a woman or teen can’t afford such products, she has to go without, often missing work or school, or resorting to alternatives such as paper towels.

Readers, there are a variety of problems on the table here. The first is that Arizona charges a luxury tax for these items. Ask any woman – we’re skeptical you’ll find any who classifies menstrual products as anything but a need.

And imagine, for a moment, the challenge of not having access to such products because of financial barriers, especially for teens. It’s an awkward time in life for many – and then complicate it by not having money to buy the products necessary to manage that period.

Readers, that’s simply awful.

Compounding the problem is the stigma of sorts around the issue of menstruation.

It’s a subject that impacts every single woman. At some point in their teen years, menstruation is inevitable. Yet it is rarely discussed. Some turn to paper towels or other products as a substitute, which has to be both ineffective and terribly uncomfortable. Others simply don’t go to school or work.

But Nemeth is striving to make a difference, calling attention to the issue and working to get donations of sanitary pads and tampons to the Food Bank. It’s a terrific cause.

Ideally, there would be free products in every single bathroom at every single school in Yuma County, too. Because let’s face it – periods are hard to navigate, and it’s embarrassing for girls to have to ask for help when they have a menstruation issue at school or they can’t afford the products. Having such products free in the bathrooms would go a long way toward making a tremendous difference.

Nemeth has a great idea here, and the Food Bank is a terrific starting point.

Individuals can donate to the initiative in one of three ways: by making a monetary donation online at www.yumafoodbank.org/donate.html, noting that the funds are for the Yuma Period Project; by purchasing items and delivering them to the food bank between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. on weekdays; or by purchasing items directly from the project’s Amazon Wishlist, accessible at https://www.amazon. com/hz/wishlist/ls/DGXD2K4VDL6C/ref=cm_go_ nav_hz.

This is a tremendous cause, and one we feel strongly should be supported.

And, readers, please reach out to our state legislators, and tell them it’s time to abolish the luxury tax on these items.

Unsigned editorials represent the viewpoint of this newspaper rather than an individual. Columns and letters to the editor represent the viewpoints of the persons writing them and do not necessarily represent the views of the Yuma Sun.