MANSFIELD — Melissa Lawhorn thought something needed to change when she realized girls were requesting hygiene products for Christmas.
“Some of our Christmas families were asking for pads and tampons as gifts,” the Mid-Ohio Youth Mentoring specialist said. “They shouldn’t have to ask for that, so we came up with this.”
Mid-Ohio Youth Mentoring hosted Richland Public Health at the Friendly House on Saturday and gave away bags of menstrual supplies. Doc’s Deli also provided lunch to all the participants.
Program leadership invited all girls over the age of 10 and their mentors.
Lawhorn said the participants who couldn’t pick up their product bags on Saturday can arrange to pick them up later. The mentoring team put 100 bags together that include about three month’s worth of menstrual products, a toothbrush, deodorant and hand sanitizer.
“The girls on the waiting list who don’t have mentors get a bag too,” Lawhorn said.
Between big and little mentorship and afterschool programs, executive director Jim Nicholson said Mid-Ohio Youth Mentoring supports more than 500 children. There are 94 girls over the age of 10 in the program.
“Recognizing period product access as an issue, Melissa took it upon herself to see if there’s any resources out there and wrote a grant,” Nicholson said. “We got $3,000 from the Richland County Women’s Fund and threw in some money from our budget too.
“We definitely want to do this at least once a year. I’d love to do the supply kits quarterly if we get the money to support that.”
Ohio law currently requires schools that enroll girls in grades six through twelve to provide free menstrual products.
Crestview Local Schools and Mansfield City Schools have Richland Public Health dispensers installed in their buildings.
Alice Ramsey, a health educator for Richland Public Health, shared information with Saturday’s attendees about the Free Flow program. It offers free menstrual products and educational resources around Richland County.
Ramsey said health commissioner Dr. Julie Chaya partnered with the Aunt Flow organization based out of Columbus to start the program in 2022.
The Free Flow program covers initial costs of installing dispensers in schools or businesses. The dispensers are stocked with organic cotton pads and tampons.
“It’s a great and needed resource,” Ramsey said. “The schools and businesses try to put them in high-traffic or accessible areas so the girls and the public can find them easily.”
An interactive map lists the locations where Free Flow dispensers are located, including all Mansfield-Richland County Public Library branches, Richland County Children Services, the Renaissance Theatre and Richland Academy of the Arts.