Small bags with feminine hygiene products are popping up in girls bathrooms at middle and high schools in Calloway, Graves and Marshall counties. Kristen Farley is a senior at Murray State University and the coordinator of Clutch. She speaks with reporter Sydni Anderson on the program and need for accessible feminine products:
Farley said she started the program to help girls who can’t afford pads and tampons. She said Clutch collects small bags, tampons, pads, panty-liners and monetary donations.
“We’ve already had 15 girls take them this week,” Farley said. “We’ve had so many girls thank us because they thought we put them out. And they didn’t have to pretend like things were okay in all of their classes.”
Farley said she hopes to destigmatize periods. She said she started the program because she wanted to empower women, which is “not very common here in Murray.”
“My sister had just read this article about how girls were having to use industrial toilet paper and pretend like things weren’t just going crazy and trying to focus on their algebra 2 finals,” Farley said. “So we were like ‘we should do something about it’ and we started clutch.”
Farley said she wants to remind girls that periods are natural and they should not be ashamed. The program has already dispersed 315 clutches.
Farley said Clutch has partnered with Walters Pharmacy in Murray to buy feminine products at market cost. People can donate pads and tampons through the Murray Art Guild, the campus ministry ‘Love MKY’ and the Murray State Public Relations and English departments. Farley is also collecting monetary donations through the Facebook page ‘Clutch - There When You Need It.’
