Free feminine hygiene dispensers installed at Madison High School

REXBURG, Idaho (KIFI) - Female students at Madison High School will no longer have to pay to get feminine hygiene products out of a dispenser, thanks to the East Idaho Period Project.

Board member Carly Firth says it was a great moment.

"It's really exciting," Firth said. "We dropped off ten dispensers and then we also dropped off 5,000 menstrual products."

The pads and tampons will be available for free to every female student at Madison High School.

It's part of an effort to end an overlooked health problem in the gem state.

"Period poverty is a huge thing here in Idaho," Firth said. "I think people sometimes don't talk about it, don't think about it, but it is truly huge. We want to make it so a girl doesn't have to worry about all the other things that are going on."

The nonprofit is also donating more than two dozen other dispensers to middle and high schools throughout eastern Idaho.

"We received a grant from the child advocacy center, which was huge. That actually is what funded a bunch of these," Firth said.

MHS office manager Lesa Jackson says the dispensers are placed in bathrooms all through the school.

"The gymnasium locker area, the main commons cafeteria area," Jackson said. "We have them in the classroom area, the fine arts wing, the auditorium, and out in our agricultural building."

Jackson says the dispensers will make a big difference.

"They don't have to come to the office and be embarrassed or have any issues or go home," Jackson said. "They can take care of whatever they need. We're just excited to be able to offer that to them because it's a needed thing for the girls, so they feel safe and comfortable and don't have any problems."