WSU’s PERIOD chapter, a group dedicated to providing menstrual products to people who cannot afford them, will host its first PERIOD packing party to start a conversation about periods today at 6 p.m. in CUB, Room 204.

Aydan Garland-Miner, founder and president of WSU PERIOD, said she is putting on the packing party because she wants to serve the community.

“Generally both men and women do not feel comfortable talking about menstruation and I wanted to be able to start the conversation,” she said.

Garland-Miner said Nadya Okamoto, the founder of the national PERIOD campaign, came up with the concept of the packing party.

“She basically started it so that teams of people can come together and create the period packs of pads and tampons for homeless menstruators and menstruators in need to serve all the community,” Garland-Miner said. “We’re basically just continuing that process.”

Garland-Miner said the event will be open to the public, WSU students, faculty and staff.

She said there will be two assembly lines along with a variety of stations for each menstrual product, with two or three people at each station to pack products.

The purpose of the event is to distribute the period package to resource centers in the area and directly to those in need.

“I am planning to contact the Community Action Center in Pullman and a committee at the warming center,” she said. “I also think it’s valuable for members of PERIOD to have direct contact with people we’re serving.”

Garland-Miner said the first thing she did to launch the PERIOD packing party was order 900 pads and tampons from PERIOD headquarters in Portland. She also started a GoFundMe page that raised $240.

PERIOD increased the number of packages from the estimated 100 to 200 because they had more donors, Garland-Miner said.

“We’ve gotten tons of donations from residence halls on campus, sororities on campus and private donors, as well as sponsors like ASWSU and Main Street Squeeze,” she said.

Garland-Miner said she brought PERIOD to WSU because she is passionate about women’s rights and gender equality. She also said she wants to bring an additional resource for the homeless population in Pullman.

“I have been following Okamoto for 5 years now. I read her new book called ‘Period Power: A Manifesto for the Menstrual Movement’ and was inspired by it,” she said. “I wanted to continue the movement.”

Garland-Miner said people should come to start the conversation about the stigmatization around periods.

“Getting people to start talking about periods is important. Pads and tampon should not be seen as a luxury, it should be seen as a right,” she said. “It’s unacceptable. Pads and tampon are a basic need, everyone should have access.”

Sara Quenzer, WSU junior journalism and media production major, said it is important to help women who do not have access to menstruation products.

“As someone who’s in the U.S., I get access to plenty of period products and sex education,” Quenzer said. “I know how it affects me. Helping women who do not have any access to any of these resources is important. “

Garland-Miner said the WSU PERIOD chapter hosts a meeting every Thursday in the CUB, Room 406, and everyone is welcome.

“In those meetings we have workshops where we talk about period poverty in the United States, how to take actions and more to come,” she said. “Our mission for PERIOD at WSU is to make sure we educate, advocate and serve the community.”