A limited supply of menstruation products at the Root Cellar (photo courtesy Derek Brade)

By Teagan Rasche

Bleed with Dignity

Annual quest to end period poverty in Medicine Hat once again underway

Nov 2, 2021 | 4:42 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Students and staff at Medicine Hat College have teamed up with members of the community to collect menstruation products for the Root Cellar, the former food bank.

MHC instructor Tara Williams started this yearly campaign to help end period poverty in Medicine Hat six years ago. She said it’s important people have access to menstruation products.

“The alternative is newspaper, rolled up toilet paper and socks,” Williams said.

She first saw the need for it during a visit to the Medicine Hat and District Food Bank years ago.

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“When I went and looked at what they had, there was literally not one product that I would’ve actually used or passed on to another woman,” Williams said.

So she started a collaboration between her business students and art and design students. Together, they create a new campaign each year and for 2021, it’s Bleed with Dignity.

One of her students, Veronica Yeoman, want’s to surpass what was collected last year.

“There’s a need for absolutely everything,” Yeoman said. “Preference just goes to that person who needs it so pads, tampons, DivaCups, everything.”

Last year’s campaign raised the food equivalent to 14,180 pounds of menstruation products. That was enough to last clients at the Root Cellar a year, but now they are getting low.

“If you can’t afford food, you can also not afford feminine hygiene products and it’s a need, not a want,” Melissa Mullis said.

Mullis works at the Root Cellar.

She says this campaign not only benefits adults but also provides menstruation products to schools through the Brown Bag Lunch Program.

The community-driven, student-created Bleed With Dignity is capturing the support of many men in the community including Inspector Brent Secondiak.

“It doesn’t affect men so we kind of put it out of our mind,” Secondiak said. “But when you think about just basic human dignity and human needs, I think as males sometimes we forget about that.”

Secondiak is challenging other Hatters to donate.

At one of the donation centers, Mr. Lube, owner Chris Hellman says he knows these products are in high demand.

“It’s a community issue, not just a female issue or a poverty issue, it’s a community issue,” Hellman said. “So it’s equally important for males to be involved as females, and that’s why we’re involved.”

Donations can also be made at the Root Cellar or through donating money online.

The ultimate goal is for everyone in the community to have a sense of relief, and not worry about where they can get menstruation products.