Student run Her Drive receives more donations than expected

PHOTO: Key Club officers, including president Riley Liu, drove around the city to pick up Her Drive donations.

By Mia Croff,

BlueDevilHUB.com Editor–

The Davis High Key Club officers hosted a Her Drive donation drive in the month of December and collected many more items and supplies than they anticipated. The materials were donated to Empower Yolo, where they will soon reach individuals in need. 

Her Drive is a non profit organization that aims to collect essential feminine care products for women affected by poverty and homelessness. According to the organization’s Linkedin page, its goal is to alleviate this disparity by collecting bras, menstrual care and general hygiene products, and distributing them to people who need them.

Key Club President senior Riley Liu discovered Her Drive while browsing through the social media platform TikTok in late November. The organization caught her attention due to her interest in aiding humanitarian causes.

“We overlook the importance of these everyday items being a part of a well off community,” Liu said. “We never think, ‘can I afford this bar of soap?’ […] These are things we shouldn’t take for granted.”

The Key Club officers saw the potential in pursuing the project and dove into it head first.  In December, the group submitted their application to host a local drive, got in contact with Her Drive officers sourced in Chicago to assist with planning and decided on a pick up system to collect donations. 

“I had seen a lot of different drives during COVID and I didn’t want to do one that would take away from [another drive] anyone else was doing,” Liu said.  “I didn’t see anything like this and people need these very basic materials that we could easily collect.”

The drive was advertised through other DHS service clubs, a variety of social media platforms and an Enterprise article published prior to the first donation date. 

Donors submitted their addresses to the students involved and their donations were picked up in one of the two donation pick up rounds hosted on Dec. 19 through Dec. 21 and Dec. 26 and Dec. 27. 

“I spent about an hour and a half to two hours a day picking up donations from homes,” Key Club Treasurer Alicia Joo said. “Then I’ve spent a decent amount of time counting all the donations kept at my house.”

Overall, the group collected 249 bras, 9,098 menstrual products, 109 masks and 148 soaps/body washes. They also received a variety of different clothing and vanity items. 

“The goal was getting as many donations in general. We got 117 donors actually and I was blown away,” Liu said. 

Liu drove the items to Empower Yolo in Davis. 

Josie Enriquez, Empower Yolo program manager, was Liu’s initial contact when reaching out to Empower Yolo and establishing it as their donation drop off destination.

According to Enriquez, the donations are important to the Empower Yolo organization, as they help a variety of the clients they serve.  

“These products can be provided to women residing at our emergency safe house,” Enriquez said. “Since the pandemic started, we have many more clients coming into our offices needing basics […] Feminine products are welcome and appreciated and can always be used by our clients.”