High School pair announces May Period Product Drive

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Two Santa Barbara High School students, Ella Bailey and Natasha Huey, that organized a successful Period Product Drive in October, are gearing up for another donation-based drive to help local people in need gain access to basic hygiene products this May.

Last year's drive collected 5,173 pads, 2,583 tampons, and 7,756 individual period products from 13 area drop boxes including every local Starbucks.

Next month's drive will place drop boxes at every local Starbucks again and host a new box at Girls Inc. of Greater Santa Barbara-Goleta Valley Center.

"With our drive, I’m most proud that we are opening the conversation and making it heard," said Huey.

The previous Period Poverty Project donated all the collected products to the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission and PATH Santa Barbara, but all of those donations have now been used.

This year's recipients of the donated products will be the Food Bank of Santa Barbara County and the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission.

Period poverty is a lack of access to menstrual products, education, and available hygiene facilities based on cost that affects almost 17 million Americans details the Period Product Drive's website.

Bailey explains, "It is really important to normalize this issue because period products are essential to many people's lives … especially people in poverty."

Look for donation boxes at all 13 local Starbucks and at the new Girls Inc. location all of May!