Teens kick off Period Product Drive to help women who can’t always afford them

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.-To help women who can't afford the basics during the periods Ella Bailey and Natasha Huey started a Period Product Drive.

 They're asking people to donate menstrual products.

Period Product Drive donation boxes are located at more than a dozen Starbucks in Santa Barbara and Montecito, and the Springtide Nail Salon.

A sign on the box defines Period Poverty as a lack of access to menstrual products and education.

On October 15, they will pick up the donations and give them to women at the Rescue Mission and Path.

Bailey, a senior at Santa Barbara High School, and Huey, a senior of Dos Pueblos High met in middle school. They launched this project as a team.

"It is really important to normalize these things because it is just a really essential product that impacts many people's lives and it is super, super important to anybody, especially people in poverty," said Bailey.

Huey said, "You have this wonderful thing that your body does, which is having your period cycle each month, and a part of that is- you do need pads and tampons, but not everyone gets that, so I think this project was fueled by that motivation of wanting to help all women."

Women's Economic Ventures is supporting their effort, too.

The teens planned their Period Product Drive to coincide with Breast Cancer Awareness Month when there is already a focus on women's health.    

They were inspired by period projects in other states and countries around the world.

There is a QR code on the boxes inside Starbucks where donors can link to more information.