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Local community centre to provide free period products

Headshot of Indigo Lemay-Conway
Indigo Lemay-ConwaySound Telegraph
Katie Anderson local PinkBox Shero with Frank Konecny Community Centre chairperson Merle Fry.
Camera IconKatie Anderson local PinkBox Shero with Frank Konecny Community Centre chairperson Merle Fry.

A local community centre has partnered with the national charity Share the Dignity to provide free period products to those in need to help curb period poverty.

The Frank Konecny Community Centre in Kwinana unveiled its PinkBox Dignity Vending Machine last week which dispenses free period packs containing six tampons and two pads.

Share the Dignity State coordinator volunteer Janine Fisher said the custom-made pack ordered through Libra is considered to be “enough for a day’s supply for someone in need”.

“We were shocked to hear that people were using rolled-up toilet paper and hand towels to manage their periods, which is why we want to let people know about our PinkBox machines,” Ms Fisher said.

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There are 44 PinkBox dignity vending machines in WA. Frank Konecny centre manager Sue King said she reached out to the charity to see if it would donate a PinkBox after more women reached out for period products during lockdown.

“When COVID kicked in at the beginning of last year, we had a lot of New Zealand residents and residents who weren’t Australian that lost their jobs and weren’t getting a cent from the government and they were knocking on our doors looking for help,” Ms King said.

“We realised that feminine hygiene products were something that people were crying out for, because the shelves in supermarkets were getting wiped and they were really hard to get a hold of.

“People in the community were great and would donate products to us, but it made us realise how important an issue this was.”

The PinkBox is located in the disabled unisex bathroom at the centre and Ms King encouraged all people who needed the products to avail themselves.

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