AroundTown High honor

Pattonville alumnus receives Congressional Space Medal of Honor

Retired astronaut Robert (Bob) Behnken received the Congressional Space Medal of Honor from vice president Kamala Harris on Jan. 31. Behnken received the honor along with former astronaut Douglas Hurley. Behnken and Hurley are the first honorees since 2006 to receive this honor. Behnken is a 1988 graduate of Pattonville High School.

Behnken and Hurley received the award for bravery in NASA’s SpaceX Demonstration Mission-2 (Demo-2) to the International Space Station in 2020. On May 30, 2020, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft launched to the space station, marking the first mission to launch with astronauts as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. As a space station crew member for 62 days, Behnken performed four spacewalks with former NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and contributed more than 100 hours to the orbiting laboratory’s scientific investigations.

Behnken was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2000 and completed two space shuttle flights, logging 93 days in space. Behnken flew STS-123 in March 2008 and STS-130 in February 2010, and he performed three spacewalks during each mission. He retired from NASA in November 2022. Before retiring from active military service in February 2022, Behnken had achieved the rank of colonel and flown more than 2,000 flight hours in more than 25 different types of aircraft. A St. Ann native, he earned bachelor’s degrees in physics and mechanical engineering from Washington University and a master’s and doctorate in mechanical engineering from California Institute of Technology. Before joining NASA, Behnken was a flight test engineer with the U.S. Air Force on the F–22.

The Congressional Space Medal of Honor was created by the United States

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Congress in 1969 to recognize exceptionally meritorious efforts and contributions to the welfare of the nation and mankind. It’s awarded by the president of the United States in Congress’s name on recommendations from the administrator of (NASA).

St. Louis Area Diaper Bank hosts third annual Bloody Mary Brunch

The St. Louis Area Diaper Bank will hold its third annual Bloody Mary Brunch on March 26 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event – which includes Bloody Mary and mimosa bar and light brunch – will be held at the Diaper Bank’s headquarters located at 6141 Etzel Ave. and is for those 21 years of age and older. Tickets are $50 per person, and all monetary donations will go to support the Diaper Bank’s period supply program, which helps nearly one million girls and women annually with period kits.

Attendees will have the interactive opportunity to count, sort, and pack period supply kits for local school partners. Other activities include raffles, a glitterati selfie station, special guest speaker Jen- nifer Gaines from Alliance for Period Supplies, and a brief presentation about the agency’s efforts to end period poverty in St. Louis.

The period supply program distributes period supplies through community partners and advocates for the elimination of “period poverty.” To date more than two million period supplies have been distributed in St. Louis, with 75,000 period supplies allocated each week. Two-thirds of low-income women in St. Louis cannot afford menstrual hygiene products, with 46% of low-income women having to choose between food and period supplies.

Founded in 2014, the St. Louis Area Diaper Bank provides diaper and period supply access to the region’s low-income families, as well as raises community awareness about the causes and consequences of diaper need and period poverty. The nonprofit is a member of the National Diaper Bank Network and its sister organization Alliance for Period Supplies, a nationwide nonprofit dedicated to eliminating diaper need and “period poverty” in America. The period supply program ensures access to menstrual hygiene products, which allows full participation in daily life with dignity.

For more information about the Bloody Mary Brunch or to donate, call 314-6240888.