Kansas City Mom Collective is featuring an organization each month that supports Kansas City families. We hope to introduce you to a new organization and provide ways you can support their mission. To nominate an organization to be featured here, email us.
Strawberry Week is Kansas City’s first nonprofit organization that serves Kansas and Missouri. Their mission is 100% focused on addressing period poverty by improving access to menstrual products to both underserved populations and the general public.
The Story of Strawberry Week
Strawberry Week began taking root in 2016 when Micheala Miller began hosting donation parties from her home where friends would gather and bring various health and hygiene items for donation to domestic shelters. Over the next five years, Micheala grew her efforts with others and in December of 2021, Strawberry Week was officially established to provide free resources for menstruators in Kansas and Missouri.
How Strawberry Week Helps
Period Poverty is when an individual has a lack of access to essential hygiene products used to manage a menstrual cycle such as tampons, pads and liners. Period poverty affects nearly a quarter
of all students and can have a significant impact on a student’s education if they consistently miss school due to a period. Strawberry Week works to combat these issues by collecting and distributing menstrual products across the metro through partnerships with local organizations, libraries and schools. The mission of Strawberry Week is to improve accessibility to these basic needs that have been unfairly taxed and stigmatized, while also providing education and awareness of sustainable and economical menstrual management methods.
One of the many organizations that Strawberry Week benefits is Growing Futures Early Education Center. Growing Futures serves families below the poverty line and they give thanks to Strawberry Week for the menstruating assistance that they’ve been provided, ” our partnership with Strawberry Week has been amazing for the families we serve…The families frequently struggle to pay for their regular bills and even buy groceries. Being able to help the mothers and girls of the families we serve by providing period products when they are in need has helped them feel seen and more supported.”
Ways to Support Strawberry Week
Host Your Own Collection Drive
Encourage colleagues, friends, schools or clubs to donate individually wrapped tampons, pads and liners to a collection drive on behalf of Strawberry Week. Once items have been collected they may be dropped off at any time at their 24/7 donation bin in Waldo. Look for their Strawberry Week bin located at 204 W. 82nd Street, Kansas City, MO 64114.
Drop Off Donations
The drop-off bin is open for any period product donations whether they are from a collection drive or not. They can also take open packs of products as long as the items inside are individually wrapped. These donations can be dropped off at the same Waldo bin.
Make A Monetary Gift
One-time or monthly donation through the Strawberry Week donation site. Just ten dollars covers the cost of a period pack.
Become A Drop-Off Location
Every November Strawberry Week promotes a month-long donation drive called Flow-vember. Local businesses open their doors to become donation hot spots for period supplies. This is Strawberry Week’s biggest collection drive of the year and helps them expand their reach beyond their usual networks and they are open to more local businesses participating in promoting this drive if you or someone you know has a business that would be interested in hosting a drop-off spot.
