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MANCHESTER â A Burr and Burton Academy senior has won national recognition for an effort to stock school restrooms with menstrual products.
Mary Mendez, 18, of Manchester Center, was named as one of two top youth volunteers in Vermont of 2021 by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, which is billed as the countryâs âlargest youth recognition program based exclusively on volunteer community service.â
The idea for The Point, as Mendezâ initiative is known, arose after the student found herself in need of a menstrual product while on campus but far from the health center, where such items were available. A long uphill walk in search of a single pad left Mendez âirritated by that fact that it wasnât easily [available] in the restrooms or at the bottom of the hill,â she said.