Issue link: http://maconmagazine.uberflip.com/i/1233225
5 8 MACONMAGAZINE.COM | D E C E M B E R / J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 0 MACON PERIODS EASIER was founded in February 2019 with a mission to "raise awareness of period poverty in Macon-Bibb County in the homeless community and schools with free access to menstrual products, as well as normalizing the conversation of periods," according to their mission statement. The group was sparked by an experience Claire Cox had while working with Georgia Women (And Those Who Stand With Us), urging legislators to eliminate the sales tax on menstrual products. A member of the statewide coalition Georgia STOMP (Stop Tax On Menstrual Products), the group connected with the Homeless Period Project from Greenville, S.C. "At the time, I had been researching needs in schools in Georgia," Cox said. "Working with Georgia STOMP leadership and state legislators, we were working on a bill for the legislature to establish a study commission to determine need in Georgia schools. I met with Bibb County nurses and district leadership to research needs locally. Until very recently, there has been little or no research in the United States that documents menstrual product need." The more Cox worked in that arena, the more she became concerned about who was going to take care of students in Macon- Bibb. "I felt strongly that someone locally needed to do what I was seeing be done in other parts of the state and country," she said. So, last year Cox issued a broad invitation to a meeting she called "Macon Periods Easier." "Out of that meeting came the amazing group of women who now lead Macon Periods Easier. They are doing phenomenal work meeting the needs of Macon-Bibb students," Cox said. "I support them in every way I can, lifting up their work and donating, but they get all the credit for making this supply network exist." What started with a leadership of seven members has now grown to nine. The group has served 80 local schools and, as of August, has distributed 23,000 period products. "We want to raise awareness amongst students and normalize M