The bags were then donated to the Rocking Horse Center and the Campus Cupboard, with the help of campus partners at the Susan Hirt Hagen Center for Civic and Urban Engagement and women’s athletics.
“We have been shifting the culture of the Greek community to be rooted in service, and we wanted to create something that the entire campus could be a part of,” said Mckenna Bruce, vice president of philanthropy.
The council spent $600 on the event, while the Hagen Center contributed $500 with the help of women’s athletics to buy 5,000 products, including the bags.
“This is the most amount of money the Panhellenic Council has ever spent on a philanthropic effort, as well as our largest donation,” Bruce said. “The extra products after the bags were packed were donated to the Campus Cupboard. Not only do we want to support the Springfield community, but our own students who need access to these products.”
Bruce said she started the idea for this philanthropic effort in the spring and reached out to Rocking Horse about its needs. The center said they needed easy items to give out, and they agreed the bags were a great way to do it.
When Bruce returned to school in August, she started planning and talked to women’s athletics and Hagen Center officials to make it happen, as well as to student involvement and the Panhellenic community.
“When people think about poverty, the focus tends to be on food or housing, and they forget basic supplies, including menstrual products,” said Rachel Scherzer, assistant director of the Hagen Center. “Simple projects like this not only provide for that need, but also show those receiving the items that someone cares about them.”
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