Period poverty is defined as inadequate access to menstrual hygiene tools and education, including but not limited to sanitary products, washing facilities and waste management.

According to the Alliance for Period Supplies, a 2021 study conducted by U by Kotex®, found that two in five people have struggled to purchase period products, a 35% increase from the brand’s initial research in 2018. Earlier data inspired U by Kotex® to become the founding sponsor of the Alliance for Period Supplies in 2018 and support those affected by period poverty.

The study also uncovered how period poverty is disproportionately impacting Black and Latina people, as well as the impacts of COVID-19 on the issue:

• A quarter of Black (23%) and Latina (24%) people with periods strongly agree that they’ve struggled to afford period products in the past year.

• 27% of all respondents said the COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult to access period products, with two-thirds (65%) of those who have struggled stating they lacked access because they could not afford them.

• Over one-third (38%) of low-income women* report missing work, school or similar events due to lack of access to period supplies.

• Nearly seven in ten (68%) people agree that period poverty is a public health issue, yet only 4% of Americans are aware of a local resource where free or reduced cost period supplies are available.

* Collect the Cotton uses inclusive language to include all menstruators. Due to lack of data and wide-ranging research on period poverty, we are limited to data points reflecting women only.

At Collect the Cotton we’re absolutely here for inclusivity and our mission is to collect and distribute period products to all menstruators who need support in managing their periods with dignity. When we say “menstruators” we’re referring to women, transgender men, and nonbinary people; menstruators refer to anyone experiencing their period.

We’re sharing the following verbatim from She the People because, honestly, we can’t put it any better. “Menstruators: a gender neutral & inclusive term for all period conversations. Periods are messy, stressful, essential, expensive, and painful. What they are not – feminine. As we unlearn more of our patriarchy and cisnormativity every day, it becomes essential to ungender everything we know about menstruation. Starting from point zero, gender doesn’t mean sex and sex doesn’t mean gender. Which means having a vagina doesn’t essentially mean being a girl, and testicles don’t mean being a boy. Thus, to reduce “womanhood” to a biological process that is menstruation is a gross reduction, because there are women who do not menstruate, and “menstruators” who aren’t women. Menstruators is a much more appropriate word, for any of our conversations around periods.”

Globally, 500 million people lack access to menstrual products and hygiene facilities.

16.9 million people who menstruate in the US are living in poverty.

Two-thirds of the 16.9 million low-income women* in the US could not afford menstrual products in the past year, with a half of them needing to choose between menstrual products and food.

14.2 % of college menstruating people in the US had experienced period poverty in the past year.

* Collect the Cotton uses inclusive language to include all menstruators. Due to lack of data and wide-ranging research on period poverty, we are limited to data points reflecting women only.

Collect the Cotton is focused on providing period products to anyone who menstruates.

1. Donate money to Collect the Cotton or shop our Amazon Wish List

2. Support local non-profits in your community providing period products to menstruators needing support.

3. We can all can contribute to ending period poverty through national advocacy, charitable programs, legislative changes, improved education and access, and further research.

Period products donated by Collect the Cotton are funded by generous and supportive donors. Our amazing network of supporters donate money and period products, allowing us to purchase pads and tampons and deploy them out into our community.

Every penny donated to Collect the Cotton goes towards purchasing period products for donation.

Collect the Cotton is a grassroots effort started by Ashlie Morris, with the mission of collecting period products and money to help support menstruators in need. Collect the Cotton donates pads and tampons to community organizations that provide barrier-free services to people and youth experiencing housing insecurities, hunger, and poverty, as well as programs focused on anti-trafficking, street outreach, re-housing, food pantries, LGBTQIA+ youth, and teen services. At the core of what we do, Collect the Cotton believes every menstruator deserves to be able to manage their period with dignity.

Collect the Cotton’s mission is supported by various fundraising and product collection campaigns, partnering with various community organizations and schools, and ensuring we donate the types of products being requested.

Collect the Cotton directly addresses period poverty by providing period products (pads, tampons, and liners) to non-profit organizations providing barrier-free services to menstruators needing support in our community. Collect the Cotton works directly with these organization, identifying period products needed, and donates the requested product type.

Yes. Collect the Cotton is a registered 501c3.

You can contact Collect the Cotton via email (collectthecotton@gmail.com) or by phone at (727) 234-5789.