<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0bS9SV_17Hub3oG00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0bS9SV_17Hub3oG00" width="1200" height="800" ><figcaption>Photos by Juliette Silvers.</figcaption></figure>The Planned Parenthood Generation Action (PPGA) at Whitman College brought students together for a Period Power Dance-A-Thon on Dec. 5 in the Cordiner Foyer. The event acted as both a fundraiser for period products in local shelters and an opportunity for students to dance as long as they could in the campus competition. Students who won the Dance-A-Thon were given adult toys and anyone who participated in a raffle held at the event had the chance to win gift certificates from vendors like Pinecone Creamery, Maple Counter Cafe and Counterside, each located in downtown Walla Walla. Meghan Kearney, Co-President for PPGA, viewed the event as both a way for students to have fun and raise money for local sleep centers to buy period products. “A Dance-A-Thon is fun and we want people to have fun when we’re here and we want people to feel safe and welcomed,” Kearney said. “That’s a big part of what brings us together as a club.” According to Kearney, events like the Dance-A-Thon entertain students and educate attendants on reproductive health issues; in this case, the inaccessibility of period products like pads and tampons. The event emphasized PPGA’s fundraising goals, as nearly one in four teenagers in the United States cannot afford period products. After the Dance-A-Thon, the group raised $142 to give to the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) in Walla Walla. “There’s a lot of people who don’t have period products and can’t afford them,” co-president of PPGA Lucy Collins said. “And so it’s super important to raise money to help them.”PPGA has been an active group on campus since 2016, and has previously sold contraceptive bouquets and other arts and crafts for their annual Period Power event. This year, organizers wanted to host an event for community members to participate in their fundraising. “[T]his is just a great way to raise awareness, period poverty is a real issue,” Walla Walla PPGA Director of Philanthropy Emily Anderson said. “It’s just one of those things that gets overlooked, like food stamps don’t cover period products.”Whitman’s Planned Parenthood also organizes free STD testing events in October and February at the Welty Health and Wellness Center to promote accessible and affordable testing . They also hosted a cookies and consent event on Oct. 7 to spread awareness of safe relationships and introduce their club to new students. “It’s great to introduce students to this sort of stuff in a really safe environment,” Anderson said.In the future, the group will host a lecture and panel to discuss abortion laws in Walla Walla and medical insights into abortion procedures. The panel, currently scheduled for this January, will consist of Whitman professors as well as PPGA members. “There’s more sex ed than abortion ed,” Kearney said. “We’re trying to bring that to campus so people can look forward to [that].”The club hopes to create a safe space for the Whitman community to discuss reproductive rights and sexual health. Off-campus, the group will also send select members to lobby for reproductive rights and meet with legislators in the Washington Capitol in February. “I think that us as students, we make such an impact, especially because there’s a lot of bans and a lot of people come to Walla Walla to receive lifesaving care,” Collins said. “So I think it’s just important to think about the context of where we are and how we as individuals can make an impact.”If students are in need of sexual health products, they can find a variety in the Third Space Center in the first floor bathroom. Planned Parenthood Generation Action at Whitman works to create change through events that promote sexual health and reproductive rights with an open space for students to discuss issues as well. </div></body>

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The Planned Parenthood Generation Action (PPGA) at Whitman College brought students together for a Period Power Dance-A-Thon on Dec. 5 in the Cordiner Foyer. The event acted as both a fundraiser for period products in local shelters and an opportunity for students to dance as long as they could in the campus competition. Students who won the Dance-A-Thon were given adult toys and anyone who participated in a raffle held at the event had the chance to win gift certificates from vendors like Pinecone Creamery, Maple Counter Cafe and Counterside, each located in downtown Walla Walla.

Planned Parenthood Generation Action Dances For Period Power

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The Planned Parenthood Generation Action (PPGA) at Whitman College brought students together for a Period Power Dance-A-Thon on Dec. 5 in the Cordiner Foye

Planned Parenthood Generation Action Dances For Period Power

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