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A collaboration of local agencies combined for the Red Cart Project and delivered carts with period products to Mooresville schools.
These carts with period products were delivered.
United Way of Iredell County, Mooresville Graded School District, Iredell- Statesville Schools, Mooresville Kindness Closet and Well-Equipped Period have collaborated to bring the Red Cart Project to Mooresville Graded School District and Iredell-Statesville Schools for the 2022-2023 school year.
Kicking off the program to address period poverty in the area, the Red Cart Project has brought utility carts filled with sanitary pads to 12 restrooms in MGSD. The products will be free so that all students will have access. Local advocates have observed that access to period products in schools decreases missed instructional time, prevents the potential for embarrassment, and encourages a healthier school community.
“I think the Red Cart Project is very good for students who don’t have access to period products,” said Sadie Intihar, a sophomore at Mooresville High School. Sadie is among several students who are taking an active role in stocking and maintaining the carts at both participating MGSD schools. “I am proud to be a part of it,” she says of the effort, which is already having an impact on students.
Tanae McLean, chief communications officer for MGSD, said of the project, “Our school nurses regularly provide menstrual health products to students who either cannot afford products or do not have access to products on a particular day. With only one nurse’s office on campus, going to visit the nurse for menstrual health products, particularly on our multi-building high school campus, is significant time out of the classroom. Thanks to the Red Cart Project, we will be able to meet the menstrual health needs of our students in a way that provides equitable access for our students at Mooresville Middle School and Mooresville High School, and that is a significant win against period poverty.”
Ashley Clinard, one such school nurse in MGSD, says that she sees more than 10 students each week who come to her office for menstrual products. Thanks to the Red Cart Project, “[Students won’t] have to walk all the way to the office or my office just for a pad. It will cut down on their time out of class, and that is huge.”
“Period poverty is a stigmatized and hidden public health issue that is growing due to a number of reasons. No family should have to struggle to afford these products in order to keep their children in school. The Red Cart Project aims to lessen the access barriers and give students the confidence and dignity to get the necessary products they need without having to ask anyone,” said Anne Mautner, chair and founder of the Mooresville Kindness Closet.
The Red Cart Project will be launching in three Iredell-Statesville Schools, in partnership with the district, on the first day of school, Aug. 29.
Period poverty is defined as limited or inadequate access to menstrual products as a result of financial constraints or socio-cultural stigmas associated with menstruation. The Red Cart Project is a collaboration of local advocates who believe in menstrual health equity for all students. One in four students who menstruate loses class time due to lack of access to these products. When students have access to period products, they have less stress, miss less class time, can focus on learning, and avoid health risks imposed by using “makeshift” products out of unhealthy paper and fabric products. The Red Cart Project will provide free access to period products in the bathrooms of five local schools in Mooresville Graded School District and Iredell-Statesville Schools, serving more than 2,500 students. More information about the program can be found on mooresvillekindnesscloset.org or by
emailing redcartNC@gmail.com. To support this local effort, donations can be made to United Way of Iredell County at https://bit.ly/RedCartProject.
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A collaboration of local agencies combined for the Red Cart Project and delivered carts with period products to Mooresville schools.
These carts with period products were delivered.