Where to donate menstrual supplies in SF Bay Area or by mail

April 20, 2022 7:36 PM

I have a bunch of menstrual supplies (think 3-5 packages of pads of varying absorbencies, including the special post-childbirth ones), some opened (i.e. loose), some unopened. Where can I donate these either in-person in the SF Bay Area (South Bay) or by mail? I've heard in the past that domestic violence shelters will take them, but I'm having trouble finding any, let alone ones taking donations.

I've got minimal time to devote to this (there's a reason they've been sitting in a pile for over a year), so I'm hoping for specific suggestions/locations to donate, not just "call up a bunch of DV shelters or food pantries."

posted by matildatakesovertheworld to Grab Bag (9 answers total)

Is there a park with a lot of un-housed people near you? If so, just put them in ziploc bags to keep them clean and leave them on a bench on a day when rain won’t damage them. They’ll gladly be taken by people who can use them.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 7:53 PM on April 20, 2022

Best answer: Project Beauty Share takes pads and tampons.
posted by Rube R. Nekker at 7:59 PM on April 20, 2022 [1 favorite]

A search term I've used before is "family transitional housing" but when I did a quick google search I couldn't find anywhere near you accepting hand-off donations of menstrual products (at most an Amazon wishlist you could make purchases from). Curious, I looked up the website of a place local to me in Chicago where I have personally taken tampon, pad, and diaper donations before, and they have taken this down from their website and replaced it with, once again, an Amazon wishlist. I have to believe this is something new since covid, since this place happily took tampons from me as recently as late 2019.

That's not an answer for you but maybe it's validation of your inability to easily find a place to take your donations right now.
posted by phunniemee at 8:08 PM on April 20, 2022

Bay Area Rescue Mission is a homeless shelter near me that I have donated things to before. I would have preferred not to donate to an organization that engages in proseselatizing but it's the closest one to me I could find & if it was me I'd rather there be nice things when I show up than not. I checked the website & they don't list physical donations but you could call & ask or if they don't want them (which would surprise me) they could at least tell you who else might.
posted by bleep at 8:17 PM on April 20, 2022

Maybe not the post-childbirth ones, but I'm sure any local high school nurse would take them, especially in a lower-income area. Apparently, it's a thing that they don't bother stocking the bathrooms with that horrible dispenser machine anymore. My daughter told me that it's common to carry supplies yourself, beg off friends (even boys carry emergency supplies now!), or hope a teacher or school nurse has something.
posted by dancinglamb at 5:38 AM on April 21, 2022

Sacred Heart Community Service in San Jose accepts menstrual care supplies.
posted by assenav at 6:57 AM on April 21, 2022

St. Anthony Foundation accepts unopened hygiene products.
posted by jabes at 6:59 AM on April 21, 2022

Here is a 2017 article about the need for sanitary products in the East Bay. It lists A Friendly Manor as taking donations. It also mentions that East Bay food banks, like the Alameda food bank, are interested in hygiene prodcuts.
posted by See you tomorrow, saguaro at 9:58 AM on April 22, 2022

I used to work at Episcopal Community Services on 8th Street in SF - they have a lot of facilities. Maybe check their site.
posted by bendy at 9:28 PM on April 23, 2022