By Betty Abate
Early on a Thursday morning, representatives from the Student Government Association had a unique delivery to make: 34 blue and gray bins full of Tampax Pearl tampons and Always Ultra-Thin pads.
“Thank you for doing this,” said a student as she held the bathroom door open for Jacquie Sticca, the Student Government Association’s Secretary Treasurer.
She had just placed one of the buckets on the women’s bathroom sink with a sign that read, “FREE SANITARY PRODUCTS.”
Last Oct., Sticca had gone to an SGA meet with the concern of missing hygiene products.
She said the need for these products is not solely a female concern. Transgender students told her they didn’t feel included on campus with the absence of sanitary products and disposal bins in the men’s bathrooms.
FRCC’s administration had been notified by SGA about this concern. There is no directive on supplying these products.
Sticca donated the supplies, as well as Food for Thought, FRCC’s food pantry.
The bins contain tampons, pads, and instructions on how to use the tampons.
Sticca said her donation is only a Band-Aid approach for a problem that needs a long-term solution. She said the men’s stalls are also in need of waste bins, both of which have not been accounted for by the school.
“What is it going to take?” she said when addressing the school's inaction.
Previously, faculty members have left sanitary products in the bathrooms to help. Sticca said she believes that the buckets may inspire more people to donate while they try to find a long-term solution.