Menstrual product drive aims to fight period poverty in Milwaukee County
BROWN DEER, Wis. (CBS58) -- In honor of a movie based on a beloved coming-of-age novel, the Milwaukee Public Library is holding a menstrual product drive at 10 of their locations starting Monday, April 10.
This month the film adaptation of, "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret" hits theaters. Based on the Judy Blume book, published in 1970, the movie tackles preteen growing pains like getting your period.
"I think it kind of goes well no matter what year or decade we're looking at because it's something that everyone goes through regardless of the time," Young Adult Librarian at Brown Deer Public Library Madi Wisialowski said.
Wisialowski said the book positively impacted her childhood, and now she is using it as inspiration for a menstrual product drive.
"The Milwaukee County libraries are in partnership with United Way and Marcus Theatres hoping to promote menstrual products and bring awareness to period poverty because it affects 23% of teens within the U.S.," she said.
All you have to do is drop the unopened packages inside yellow bins in each of the participating libraries and the United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County.
If you would like to give a monetary donation, there is a QR code that takes you to the United Way website. According to the United Way, $10 purchases one week of menstrual products, while $120 purchases a year of menstrual products.
To promote the drive, Marcus Theatres will show a special promo before every movie.
"We are going to be running an ad up on our big screens at 10 of our Marcus Theatres," Marcus Theatres National Sales Manager Cathy Blankenburg said. "This will be seen by hundreds of thousands of people."
The drive runs until May 18, and the donated items collected will be available at Milwaukee County diaper banks starting May 15.
DROP-OFF LOCATIONS
Brown Deer Public Library
4301 West Brown Deer Road, Suite 1
Brown Deer, WI, 53223
Cudahy Family Library
3500 Library Drive
Cudahy, WI, 53110
Greenfield Public Library
5310 W Layton Avenue
Greenfield, WI, 53220
Hales Corners Library
5885 116th St
Hales Corners, WI, 53130
Oak Creek Public Library
8040 S 6th Street
Oak Creek, WI, 53154
St. Francis Public Library
4230 S. Nicholson Ave.
St. Francis, WI, 53235
South Milwaukee Public Library
1907 10th Ave.
South Milwaukee, WI, 53172
United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County
225 West Vine Street
Milwaukee, WI, 53212
Wauwatosa Public Library
7635 W. North Ave.
Wauwatosa WI, 53213
West Allis Public Library
7421 W. National Ave.
West Allis, WI, 53214
Whitefish Bay Public Library
5420 North Marlborough Drive
Whitefish Bay, WI, 53217