“Period poverty is rampant in the US, with serious health and economic implications,” states a 2023 story in the Guardian. The story goes on to explain that nearly seventeen million persons living in poverty need period products each and every month. To put that on more personal terms, the magazine, U.S. News Money, estimates that $20 is spent on sanitary products, each period, by each person who needs them. That’s $240 a year out of already meager budgets.
As a young single mom, I knew how tough it could be to purchase the necessities I needed to go work and function in society. When I took a job at an emergency and transitional housing shelter, I witnessed persons who struggled worse than I, employing one creative solution after another to keep from embarrassing themselves when their monthly cycle demanded additional hygiene products. Because, just like toilet paper – period products are a necessity.
Imagine our surprise if we used a public restroom that required us to bring our own toilet tissue. We’d be angry to be trapped in a stall without the requisite products to clean ourselves and return to work, school or play. But we expect people who have periods to do just that. And for many persons, there’s just no way to pay for it.
I spent a few years as the vice-president of that transitional shelter in central Pa. One of our residents, disabled but receiving no assistance, went to the local clothing bank and got t-shirts. She would cut them in strips and fashion her own sanitary pads. Because she had no real access to laundry facilities, she would dispose of her homeless-made pads and make new ones, rather than washing them and hanging them to dry as our great-grandmothers used to do. Occasionally, one of the other shelter employees – mostly people who didn’t have periods, complained about the bloody rags in the trash. But the other residents didn’t complain, they understood.
As a longtime advocate for those in need, I like to encourage folks to make sure everyone’s barest necessities are provided. These items include shelter, healthcare, food, hygiene products – AND a feeling that they are loved or cared for. So, this year, I’m working with supporters of the Charles Bruce Foundation – and a local merchant in our town, Miss Ruth’s Time Bomb – to do a period product drive. We are asking for period products (and other hygiene needs: razors, soap, shampoo, moisturizer) as well as handmade cards or posters. We’re calling it our Palentine’s day celebration.
Why Palentines? Well, if someone can’t afford their own period products, they can’t exactly buy them for others. But they can be included in the celebration and show that they care. So, we’re asking for Palentines (like the one by Max Donnelly featured above) that we will display on our Facebook page and at the collection site – Miss Ruth’s Time Bomb. More info is available at our event page. If you live far away – you can mail hygiene items or artwork (or both) to the Charles Bruce Foundation, PO Box 914, Carlisle, PA 17013. Or go to a local high school or shelter near you and drop products off there.
The products we raise will be delivered to the area YWCA who will distribute them to folks in need. Thanks, and Happy Palentine’s Day to you and yours!