After gaining approval from principal Kerri Finnesand, senior Gabby Ho put baskets filled with pads and tampons in some girls’ bathrooms last week. Free period products are available in the nurse’s office, but Ho said the location and quality of the products are inconvenient. 

“When I go to the clinic, they always give me pads, right, but they’re very thick, and they don’t stick to your underwear,” she said. 

August, a company that sells sustainable period products, and its CEO, Nadya Okamoto, inspired Ho to start the project. Her ultimate goal is to have ten baskets placed throughout the school, including in the gym restrooms and locker rooms. She said she put out only a few baskets to begin with to ensure her idea would work. 

“[People taking too many products] was a big concern, but that’s why we started with the senior center first and then only one in the sophomore center,” Ho said. 

However, after the baskets had been out for a few days, Ho said she believed she would be able to maintain the project. 

“I think the first day there were just two baskets, we only had like five packs left, and it was like, do you guys need that much?” Ho said. “I was a little concerned, but [later] I checked it out, and I was like, okay, okay, we’re fine.” 

Along with period products, Post-it notes and pens are also in the baskets for students to leave notes and encouraging messages. 

“I think there were two [messages] saying that this basket saved their life, saved their day because getting a period late or early, it’s very inconvenient,” Ho said. “I was a little scared to put some Post-it notes first because I was a little scared that, you know, things might get a little inappropriate, but so far, they’re pretty positive and there are a lot.”

She said her biggest supporters have been her mom, who donated supplies for the project, and her friends, including senior Danika Naylor. 

“[When Gabby first told me about the project], I was really excited about it, and I wanted to help in whatever way I could,” Naylor said. “It just saves [students] from a lot of anxiety, worry, and discomfort. There have already been lots of very supportive and appreciative messages left about the baskets, and we want to keep helping girls at our school.” 

Students who are interested in helping with the project can donate money to Ho’s GoFundMe. She said she is happy to see the success of her project and would like it to spread to other schools. 

“I hope that, you know, maybe not just Seven Lakes, maybe the whole Katy ISD could start doing the same thing,” Ho said. “Just put a basket in the restrooms and then girls can start putting stuff in there and just [keep] supporting each other.”