SAN ANTONIO — Next to the little pink coffee shop on Cevallos Street in Southtown is a little clear box. Owner of Southbound Coffee Adriana Ruiz hopes it will get people talking.
Just two days into Women's History Month, the box already had a handful of feminine hygiene product donations.
"A lot of my customers are just women, young women, older women, and I just am all about women empowerment," said Ruiz.
For the second year in a row, Ruiz is partnering with PeriodsSATX to collect donations of pads, tampons, liners and other menstrual hygiene products for the entire month of March.
PeriodsSATX is the local San Antonio chapter of Periods United, a nonprofit that started in Austin when the founder noticed a lack of menstrual products available while volunteering at a homeless shelter.
Ruiz, who is also a volunteer with the nonprofit, said they work to get rid of the stigma surrounding menstruation, and raise period poverty awareness.
"It’s not by choice, you know, going through a menstrual cycle. And it gets expensive," Ruiz said.
A 2021 study from U by Kotex found a 35% increase in period poverty from 2018.
Last year, Ruiz was able to gift the donations to food pantries on the west side, south side, and partnered with Catholic Charities to create care packages that were sent to migrant teens and families.
They plan to do the same this year and try to find a middle school to donate to as well, Ruiz said.
Ruiz said people can drop off donations during their business hours:
- Tuesday-Friday 7am-2pm
- Saturday & Sunday 8am-2pm
While they hope to use Women's History Month to increase their period poverty awareness campaign, Ruiz said the need for menstrual hygiene products will not go away. She encourages people to look into volunteer opportunities and ways to get involved with PeriodsSATX beyond the month of March.