Kettering Health takes lead in helping women deal with high prices of feminine products

Kettering Health is taking the lead in working to help women cope with being forced to pay high prices for feminine hygiene products.

Now and until the end of March, which is Women’s History Month, Kettering Health is the place you can bring donated products that will be distributed to women in need.

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News Center 7′s Taylor Robertson, in another installment of “News Center 7: Dayton Gets Real,” spoke with two women who said they too often have to decide between buying shampoo or tampons because of the cost of the products.

“I have really had to cut some stuff out just to afford them,” Julia Knipher, a University of Dayton senior, said about paying for feminine products.

She said she’s grateful UD offers feminine products in some of the restrooms in dorms and classroom buildings.

“It’s helped with my budget costs and everything like that,” Knipher said. “Like if I need to budget a little more I’m like OK, well I know they have stuff in Kennedy Union if I need to go.”

Sydney Knake, also a senior at UD, said she has had to take advantage of those free products in campus restrooms as well.

“You have a budget and you have to figure out what you’re spending your money on,” she said. “It’s something we can’t change and something that we are sort of just born with and have to deal with every single day.”

Knipher and Knake are grateful for Alexis Wisler, a blogger at Kettering Health, and people like her.

“I came across a statistic that like two out of three women, low-income women, can’t afford period products,” Wisler said. “I was able to put together this donation drive to just help women and you know also just raise awareness about period poverty and everything like that. "

Wisler said many women grow up having been taught to be embarrassed about periods.

“I just think like not only is it important to recognize that people you know have periods, but that it’s sometimes hard for them to get access to things they need and that embarrassment can sort of make it harder for them to ask for help.”

Donation bins are in the lobbies at Kettering Health Medical Centers in Kettering, Beavercreek, Jamestown and Springfield, as well as its Women’s Health locations.

At the end of March, those donated items will be taken to area women’s shelters, churches and other places of worship, as well as other organizations that assist women.