Tiger Pantry, a volunteer organization, provides food and other household items to any student, faculty or staff member at the University of Missouri, but its selection of menstrual products is sparse, representatives said. Its Feminine Hygiene Drive, open through Sept. 9 to Oct. 1, was organized to improve their stock of period products for their patrons, which is only supported by occasional donations.

“This is [our] first drive that’s dedicated solely to feminine hygiene products,” said Reanna Munjoy, the Tiger Pantry Director of Fundraising and Outreach. Her team has collaborated with several local businesses and campus buildings to host donation boxes across Columbia.

People with the resources to donate can drop off any kind of packaged menstrual products in the donation box at the Women’s Center, Main Squeeze and other drive locations.

Bin Locations

• Main Squeeze
• Yellow Dog Bookshop
• Mizzou Women’s Center
• Hexagon Alley
• Living Canvas
• McNally’s
• Lewis Hall
• Hulston Hall

Alex Walker, a member of the organization’s fundraising and outreach team and participant in reaching out to local businesses and campus organizations, viewed access to menstrual products as a welfare issue, so she was eager to address this need on campus.

While Tiger Pantry is known for its food stock, hygiene and period products like bath soaps, deodorant and tampons are available, but in limited supply. Eddie Cassimatis, a Tiger Pantry Shift Ambassador who oversees day-to-day operations in the pantry, frequently notices disappointment from patrons when they learn they can only take 10 tampons or pads every month.  

This drive is also meant to diversify the pantry’s selection of menstrual products as small tampons tend to dominate their stock. Munjoy said that patrons often ask for different products. 

“We never really get any [menstrual  products],” Cassimatis said. “People don’t associate that with a food pantry, so they don’t think to donate something like that.”

When period products are received, the items are split evenly between the three days of the pantry’s operation to increase accessibility for patrons.

College students’ varying financial situations demonstrate this consistent need. A 2021 study from the BMC Women’s Health journal concluded that in 2020, 14.2% of college-attending people who menstruate experienced the inability to afford menstrual products, which is known as period poverty. 

Now a junior, Munjoy recalled times when she wasn’t able to spend $10 on period products. Beyond the increasing costs of period products and stigma attached to them, people who menstruate may not always have any products with them during menstrual cycles. 

Although the drive is ending soon, people can always donate during the pantry’s open hours at 299 Hitt Street on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Sundays to help them keep pace with community needs. 

Edited by Maya Dawson | mdawson@themaneater.com

Copyedited by Avery Copeland and Natalie Kientzy | nkientzy@themaneater.com 

Edited by Emilia Hansen | ehansen@themaneater.com

Edited by Emily Skidmore | eskidmore@themaneater.com