Now in its fourth year, the KickStart for Kids sanitary product drive has seen remarkable growth—from a single school involved in 2022 to 10 schools stepping up in 2025. It’s a clear sign that awareness and support around period poverty is on the rise, with more young people and educators wanting to make a difference.
Participating schools include: Walford Anglican School for Girls, Wilderness School, Loreto College, St Paul’s College, Westminster School, Seymour College, Cabra Dominican College, St Dominic’s Priory College, St Michael’s College, and all-boys school Rostrevor College. Throughout May, these schools will be running donation and fundraising drives, gathering much-needed sanitary items and financial support for students across the state who are going without.
Each school will also host assemblies featuring KickStart for Kids founder Ian Steel, alongside well-known period poverty ambassadors. These include Connie Bonaros MLC, AFLW Port Adelaide ruck Matilda Scholz, singer and TikTok creator Jenna in the Pink, and SA media personality Rebecca Morse. The team will speak to students and staff about the importance of menstrual hygiene and how the wider community can get involved.
The initiative is timed around World Menstrual Hygiene Day on 28 May and includes school-based product donation drives, with branded collection boxes clearly marked ‘KickStart for Kids Against Period Poverty’.
A 2020 survey found that one in four girls in South Australia miss school because they don’t have access to sanitary products—and half don’t know how to access them at school. To address this, KickStart for Kids launched its Against Period Poverty program in 2021. Today, the organisation supplies nearly 2,000 sanitary products to students every month.
Founder Ian Steel says the growing school involvement has been incredible to witness: “The fact that we started with one school and now have nine on board our school sanitary drive is truly amazing! We are particularly grateful that all-boys school Rostrevor are participating for the third year in a row… It’s so important to get the lads involved in the cause as well and get them understanding the struggles that girls who are less privileged than them sometimes have to face,” Ian said.
For those who want to help from home, sanitary products can be dropped into any of the 37 National Pharmacies stores across South Australia. Donations can also be made online here.
KickStart for Kids is also holding its annual SkyCity KickStart for Kids Period Poverty Fundraiser at Sol Rooftop on Friday, 30 May. Tickets are selling quickly and are available here.
