Grace Pinson
A care cupboard sits outside of the Moving Ahead Program on Thursday, Oct. 16, in Columbia, Mo. These care cupboards are designed to help fight against period poverty and provide feminine hygiene products to nearby residents.
A University of Missouri student is expanding access to free menstrual products through two “Care Cupboards” in Columbia.
Mizzou graduate student Raquel Young founded the project to combat period poverty and the stigma around periods. The cupboards are a replica of Little Free Libraries, a book-sharing box in many states across the country. Care Cupboards are instead stocked with pads, tampons and other hygiene products.
Originally from North Carolina, Young first got involved with menstrual equity through the nonprofit Black Period Project. Starting as an intern and gradually moving to the position of executive assistant, her main goal while working with the nonprofit was to help low-income individuals who struggled to access menstrual products.
That experience laid the groundwork for her current initiative. With funding from the Love Your Block grant awarded by the city of Columbia, Young was able to design the Community Care Cupboard.
One cupboard is located outside the Boys and Girls Clubs of Columbia, serving Hickman High School students and nearby residents. The other sits outside the Moving Ahead Program on Providence Road, across from Douglass High School.
According to Young, not having access to menstrual products can negatively impact a person’s mental health.
“Students can feel their self-esteem could go down,” Young said. “They might not want to go to class or just be active in general. That can lead to higher anxiety levels and higher depression levels.”
Young described the significance of educational outreach and how it was integral to her own identity and the progression of the community, as they are both things she is very passionate about.
“I initially did an educational outreach with the Boys and Girls Club,” Young said. “They were the students … actively involved with getting the care covers off the ground, which was very helpful and something that I really love to do.”
Young currently operates the cupboard with only a few other volunteer graduate students. However, the city of Columbia has been continuously applying for grants to sustain the service well into the future.
Looking ahead, Young hopes to build a stronger local network, whether that means partnering with others such as undergraduate Mizzou students or Rock Bridge High School, both of which have a history of volunteering in service work.
Young recognizes that documented, quantifiable data will be the key to shaping long-term support. Rock Bridge High School junior Ishita Gautam has been completing research on the Care Cupboards and their success.
“I think a big component of it is the research aspect,” Young said. “If you don’t have numbers to back that up, or statistics to back it up and say how successful it’s been, then policymakers, governments are not really going to be 10 toes behind the project.”
Young hopes to combine the three aspects of educational outreach, menstrual product philanthropy and collecting statistical data to make an impactful political change.
“It can be an uncomfortable topic, so I think getting the word out to the community in Columbia and the surrounding areas is a way to expand and connect to the community,” Young said.
Edited by Jae Jepsen | [email protected]
Copy edited by Ella McGuire and Avery Copeland | [email protected]
Edited by Chase Pray | [email protected]