WINNIPEG -- One Winnipeg organization is tackling ‘period poverty’ in Manitoba.

Grace Wall, 16, is the director of outreach and communications for Pads to Pass, an organization dedicated to getting menstrual products to those in need.

She said, through MLA Uzoma Asagwara, she learned that students in Manitoba are missing school because they don’t have access to menstrual products due monetary reasons.

“It’s silly honestly, because it’s something that so many of us go through and don’t even think about it. Then to find out that people are missing so much of their education over something that they cannot control is mind boggling,” she said.

Wall noted that in lower-income areas of Winnipeg and in school divisions that don’t receive a lot of funding, there are people who want to learn but are missing out on school due to lack of access to these products.

“It’s an issue that we’re looking to resolve, because it’s not an issue that anybody should have.”

HOW PADS TO PASS IS HELPING

Wall said the organization had a fundraiser planned for this month, but it had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

She noted Pads to Pass has some supporters around the city who have donated to the organization, adding that they are also looking to set up a GoFundMe page for monetary donations.

“We are so excited because we have so much stuff coming in and it’s mostly through donations and stuff,” she said.

“So we’re just excited to see how far we can go and how many people we can help.”

She said donations can be dropped off at Fleet Galleries. The organization will then collect these donations and bring them to school divisions in lower-income areas of Winnipeg.

RAISING AWARENESS

Wall said Pads to Pass is also hoping to raise awareness about the fact that not all people who have periods are women and not all women have periods.

“There are young trans[gender] men who can’t get on hormone blockers yet, so they still have a period,” she said.

“It’s often excluded with terms like feminine products, or things like that. It takes away from their masculinity.”

She said they are “trying to break down the stereotypes of it only being something that women have and something that all women have.”

-With files from CTV’s Nicole Dube.