Last spring, some of our school nurses came to the Foundation seeking help with two pressing needs that are disrupting learning: vision care and menstrual supplies.

Our school nurses provide basic vision testing for students. However, there is a shortage of local providers who can assist students with MaineCare in need of more comprehensive vision testing and glasses. We found a mobile vision care provider who could help clear the backlog of needed eye exams in just days.

Your donation can make this possible! We need to raise an additional $7,000 to bring the vision van to our schools for three days later this school year. This will help students see clearly, improve concentration, build confidence, and decrease headaches and physical discomfort!

Many students in our schools seek pads and tampons from school nurses, but school budgets can’t currently meet the need. Some students choose to stay home or skip class rather than face the challenge of asking.

Thanks to early community support, we have already funded a one-year pilot providing no-cost pad dispensers in the Deering High School bathrooms, reducing the inconvenience, embarrassment, and absenteeism associated with period stigma. It costs $3,500 to get one of our middle or high schools up and running with permanent dispensers and a supply of pads.

Your donation will reduce “period poverty” at our other middle and high schools. We’d be honored to receive your gift of any size.