Feminine hygiene supplies offered at food pantry in Roosevelt

A food pantry in Roosevelt on Saturday was stacked with food and household staples, but unlike other months, there was also a special section reserved for essential feminine hygiene supplies.

The initiative at Memorial Presbyterian Church was jump-started by registered nurses Lissa Nelson and Renee Sanchez, who were on hand distributing tampons, pads, feminine wipes, soap and educational material.

“There is so much need out there,” said Nelson, employee health manager at Long Island Jewish Valley Stream Hospital, where Sanchez is the director of the Magnet designation program and nursing quality.

The two launched a donation drive at the hospital and collected more than 500 items that will also be taken to the Westbury Methodist Church, where they had already been working with pantry volunteers. At the pantries, they noticed it was mostly women getting help for their families.

“They are always asking for diapers and taking care of their families but not addressing their own needs," Nelson said.

Across Long Island and the nation, low-income women may go without tampons and other necessary feminine hygiene products.

Known as “period poverty,” the lack of proper menstrual products can lead to lost days at school and work for teen girls and women as well as health problems.

The two nurses said some women are forced to use old shirts or stuffing from plush toys to make pads and that poses a health risk.   

“If it's not cleaned or if they don't have a way to go to the laundromat and they just rinse it out under the sink, it can cause a lot of irritation to the skin to the point that you could get an infection,” Sanchez said.

At the Roosevelt church, the need for the items was clear. By the time the pantry closed, supplies had run out.

Some families spoke about how challenging it was to afford menstrual supplies.

Marsha Davidson was with her three girls, ages 3, 10 and 11 and said since her oldest starting menstruating she has starting to feel the toll.

“We use it every month religiously and it’s costly,” she said.

Tiffaney Brown from Queens Village said the products are so expensive, she tries to buy them at a dollar store.

“What they're doing is a huge thing, especially for us women to take care of our body and our health. I think this is good,” said Brown, 33.

One in six females between the ages of 12 and 44, the age most of them are likely to be menstruating, lives below the federal poverty line, according to the Alliance for Period Supplies, a national advocacy organization that works with community groups to bring resources and awareness to the issue of period poverty.

Across the United States, one-third of low-income women reported missing school, work or similar commitments because they did not have access to period supplies.

“One of the things I hear often is that people think this doesn’t happen here in the U.S., it only happens in other countries,” said Jennifer Gaines, program director at the Alliance for Period Supplies.

“This is happening here but people are afraid to talk about it. Not only is there a stigma talking about periods but there is a stigma about living in poverty and not being able to afford the products they need.”

Nelson and Sanchez are also hoping that offering period supplies will open the door to other conversations about health issues, such as making sure women are getting mammograms and other important screenings.

“We know when you take care of yourself, you are in a much better position to support others,” Nelson said.

Gaines said lawmakers are starting to take up the issue. In New York, the tax on tampons and pads was eliminated. Schools in the state are also required to offer period supplies for free to students.

“We have a lot of success in passing the bills,” she said. “The thing we would like to see is that they are fully funded. … We are finding some schools don’t have the budget to purchase the products to satisfy that mandate.”