The University of Connecticut Undergraduate Student Government is hosting its Period Box event today in room 310 of the Student Union from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Students who reserved a box of menstrual products earlier in the semester will be able to pick up their boxes at this time. Students were able to reserve boxes with pads, tampons, diva cups, menstrual disks or mixed bags filled with a variety of these products.
USG Director of Student Services Isabella Hernandez said she received 354 reservations for the period boxes. About 200 of these reservations requested the box with pads and 44 requested the tampons.
The Period Box Pick-Up was originally scheduled for Oct. 22, but issues with vendors led to the pick-up being pushed back two weeks. Despite this hiccup, Hernandez is optimistic about the turnout, especially considering the large number of reservations.
“We know that being a college kid is expensive.” Hernandez said. “A lot of us don’t have a lot of money lying around and everything is expensive. Tampons are expensive… a box is regularly $9, $10 at the store depending on which ones you like…There’s definitely a need for it.”
Hernandez said it was important that the boxes be customizable so students could get the products they need and test out new products if they wanted to.
“It’s a great way to try it out without having to spend your own money,” Hernandez said. “A lot of people don’t want to spend $40 for a diva cup and not like it.”
USG will also hand out heating pads and intimate washes at the event while supplies last. There will be about 200 smaller bags available on a first-come, first-serve basis for students who missed the chance to reserve the larger boxes, according to Hernandez.
Hernandez and USG President Venice Montanaro said this event helps students stock up on these expensive products.
Hernandez said she has been working on this initiative since she was hired at USG in May. It is one of her most substantial initiatives of the semester.
Variants of the Period Box initiative have been around for the past couple of years, but this specific event harkens back to 2022 when students were able to customize their boxes. Since that event, USG has been purchasing products and distributing them to students on a first-come, first-serve basis without any reservation process. Hernandez’s goal was to bring back the reservations, and Montanaro agreed.
“Sometimes in past events, maybe we’ll have left over more [of one type] of pads… or tampons,” Montanaro said. The reservations ensure “we know exactly how much to buy so we can actually save money on it.”
The Ovarian Cancer Society will also be tabling at the event to hand out facts about the organization and to support the initiative, Hernandez said.