Students at Lee and Collier county schools, as well as clients of Boys and Girls Clubs and many food banks, will have access to period supplies thanks to grants obtained by the Alliance for Period Supplies of Southwest Florida.The group received $18,000 recently and will use it to distribute supplies throughout the region.
Period products, such as tampons and pads, are expensive. And though they are daily necessities for anyone who menstruates, they are considered luxury items and are not covered by government programs like SNAP, formerly known as food stamps.
Susan Harris is on the board of the Alliance for Period Supplies of Southwest Florida.
“Forty-two percent of menstruators say that they can’t afford period products on a regular basis,” Harris said.
Many use alternative products, she says, that are not reliable and not hygienic, such as socks, rags, or newspaper. The inability to afford the products may keep people out of school or work.
"Two out of five girls in schools miss school at some point during the school year because they don’t have access to period products,” Harris went on to say.
Those national figures, she says, are on a par with the statistics in Florida, and the need has only risen since Hurricane Ian. For more information, go toAPSofSWFL.org.
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