St. Louis, Mo:  Period Poverty Awareness Week highlights an astounding crisis:  one in four women have struggled to purchase period products in the past year due to lack of income.

The Alliance for Period Supplies created Period Poverty Awareness Week – May 24 through May 30 – to educate the public about period poverty and its impact on menstruators.  The Alliance for Period Supplies is a national organization working to ensure that individuals in need have access to essential period products required to participate fully in daily life. 

The St. Louis Alliance for Period Supplies (STL APS) is a St. Louis Area Diaper Bank program that collaborates with the Alliance for Period Supplies to ensure access to menstrual hygiene products.  The STL APS program distributes period supplies through community partners, as well as advocates for the elimination of “period poverty”. 

To date more than 450,000 period supplies have been distributed in St. Louis, with 10,800 period supplies allocated each week.  Last year two-thirds of low-income women in St. Louis could not afford menstrual hygiene products, with 46% of low-income women having to choose between food and period products.

“We work year-round to raise awareness about individuals living in poverty who miss out on their daily lives because they don’t have access to period supplies,” said St. Louis Area Diaper Bank Executive Director Muriel Smith.  “This week is the perfect time to highlight the growing need, as well as to tell our story to the entire region about how they can help.”