<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1EUmJU_0wCNA4SR00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1EUmJU_0wCNA4SR00" width="640" height="480" ><figcaption>Cheryl Risner and a fellow volunteer sorting donations to be distributed to schools, pantries and shelters.</figcaption></figure>OCONTO – Bellin Health Oconto Hospital Lab Assistant Cheryl Risner pioneered the NO GIRL WITHOUT. campaign three years ago to address period poverty, which refers to the lack of access to feminine hygiene products. Last year, NO GIRL WITHOUT. collected donated period and hygiene products for three counties, 18 schools and one pantry. Risner said she was surprised by the community’s need for all hygiene products, not just those for periods.“I understood there was going to be a need for feminine products,” she said. “But when I heard that kids didn’t have toothbrushes or combs, it was very heartbreaking.”This year, Risner, now the chairperson and ambassador of NO GIRL WITHOUT., aims to continue creating happier, healthier and more secure students.“Feminine hygiene products are a need, not a want,” Risner said.NO GIRL WITHOUT. is accepting donations of sanitary pads and panty liners, tampons, feminine and body wash, deodorant, hygiene, flushable or baby wipes, reusable products like period panties and menstrual cups, as well as toothbrushes and toothpaste, combs and brushes, shampoo and men’s deodorant.Even though 51% of teens report they wear feminine products longer than suggested, which can lead to urogenital infections, dermatitis and Toxic Shock Syndrome, a potentially life threatening illness, there are no state programs in Wisconsin offering feminine products.Risner said many Wisconsinites assume programs like EBT and WIC cover feminine hygiene products, but that isn’t true.Risner initially learned about period poverty through social media, and she brought the idea of NO GIRL WITHOUT. to Bellin Health Oconto Hospital’s Engagement Committee, which is always seeking new ways to engage with the community.“Vice President Julie Bieber was super excited about my idea,” Risner said.“She came to me and said, ‘We’ve got to do this.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I can put some collection bins out here in the hospital.’ She told me, ‘No, we need to do this in all of the north.’”“It was late September when we decided to get this campaign going, and Bieber’s assistant noticed Oct. 14 is Period Action Day, so that first year we put it together in two weeks,” Risner said.Thanks to volunteers at Bellin Health Oconto Hospital, Risner was able to pull off NO GIRL WITHOUT.’s first campaign and start planning the next.“We’ve been pretty steadfast at about 35 volunteers in the north,” Risner said.“We started with three counties and now we’re at six.”Risner said her team is always open to new volunteers who may be able to place bins in the community and transport them once full.“We’re still figuring out the logistics for Iron Mountain and other communities in Northeast Wisconsin — we just haven’t figured out how to tie them in yet.”Despite the NO GIRL WITHOUT. campaign exploding faster than Risner was prepared for, she and her team are still working hard to include as much of the community as possible, with a presence in 28 schools this year.“I encourage anybody who doesn’t have NO GIRL WITHOUT. in their area to check with their schools and see if they’d be interested in a free pantry situation,” Risner said.The team of NO GIRL WITHOUT. places donation bins across multiple counties, which schools, businesses and clinics can sign up to host.“NO GIRL WITHOUT. operates thanks to a courier system where volunteers put containers out in our community and bring them to the Bellin Bond Center once full,” Risner said. “We sort, count and divide supplies and then the boxes go back out.”All the couriers and other team members are volunteers who donate hours of their time and countless miles to bring supplies to and from locations that need them.“They put a lot of time and energy in, but especially in healthcare, issues like period poverty really tug at your heartstrings,” Risner said.When Risner first pioneered this campaign, she said community members came forward with their own stories of period poverty.“One lady told me, ‘When I was a kid, I used rags. I wish there had been a program like this,’” Risner said.While some may insist period poverty is a relic of the past, an estimated two-thirds of women in the U.S. will choose between buying food or menstrual products this year.“It’s time to normalize talking about periods,” Risner said.After donation bins are filled, couriers pick them up and transport them to a sorting site.“We group our supplies by type and count, which means hair products are separate from something like tampons, but tampons are sorted by the amount per package,” Risner said. “For example, a package of 96 pads would go into a bin with 85-100 count pads.”When it comes to distribution, there is no preference given to certain schools or brands, and no school will be dispensed less based on their community’s ability or willingness to contribute.“The larger schools get more because of their populace, but our rural schools are all roughly the same size. We start with the largest box of pads and walk down the line, putting one package into each school’s box until we run out,” Risner said.Donated products can vary from salon quality to dollar store, but the priority of NO GIRL WITHOUT. is to supply everyone equally, regardless of brand.“Each school has their own method of giving out those products. Sometimes it’s an open closet situation and sometimes it’s left in the restrooms. Some schools, like Peshtigo, have a private system in place where students can contact the nurse, who will privately get them packages to take home.”Donations of hygiene products are accepted at 120 different locations across Marinette, Menominee, Oconto and Forest Counties in Wis. and Menominee County, Mich. for the 2024 campaign.“We’ve had anonymous cash donations from some local businesses, and Good Shepherd Church recently decided to give us some of the proceeds for their up-and-coming booyah sale,” Risner said.Cash donations from the public are always welcome, and can be made by scanning the QR code on NO GIRL WITHOUT.’s poster.For more information or to host a bin or volunteer, email nogirlwithout@bellin.org.</div></body>

Mountain View, CA

NewsBreak

Oconto Bellin worker spearheads NO GIRL WITHOUT. campaign

OCONTO – Bellin Health Oconto Hospital Lab Assistant Cheryl Risner pioneered the NO GIRL WITHOUT. campaign three years ago to address period poverty, which refers to the lack of access to feminine hygiene products. Last year, NO GIRL WITHOUT. collected donated period and hygiene products for three counties, 18 schools and one pantry. Risner said she was surprised by the community’s need for all hygiene products, not just those for periods.