From 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 9 and from 2 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 10, volunteers are invited to Direct Relief’s warehouse in Goleta to assemble 3,000 Personal Care Packs for people in need in Santa Barbara County.

To be a part of the event, please RSVP to Stephanie at sjohnson@directrelief.org or by calling 805.964.4767. The event will be held in the back parking lot of Direct Relief headquarters at 27 S. La Patera Lane in Goleta.


Direct Relief’s Personal Care Packs contain basic hygiene items like lotion, soap, facial cleanser, hairbrushes, combs, toothbrushes, toothpaste, dental hygiene items and other assorted toiletries.

This program is made possible by products donated from Chattem Inc., Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Prestige Brands, and Sappo Hill Soapworks as well as generous support from Chumash Casino, Trader Joe’s of Goleta, the Union Pacific Foundation, and Wood-Claeyssens Foundation.

A Direct Relief tradition for more than 20 years, Personal Care Packs are assembled by volunteers and distributed twice a year, during the summer months and the holiday season, with the goal of assembling 6,000 packs each year for individuals living in Santa Barbara County.

During the two days of packing, volunteers will assemble 2,000 family packs and 1,000 men’s packs. In total, the packs from both the August and December packing days help an estimated 22,000 people annually.

Direct Relief Personal Care Packs are delivered to families through 32 social service agencies throughout Santa Barbara County, including Our Lady of Guadalupe, Family Service Agency of Santa Barbara, Transition House, the Mental Wellness Center, Project Recovery, Network Medical, Isla Vista Youth Projects, Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics, American Indian Health & Services, the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission, Doctors Without Walls — Santa Barbara Street Medicine, the Santa Maria Valley Youth and Family Center, the Freedom Warming Centers, the Salvation Army — Hospitality House, the Guadalupe Senior Center, Santa Barbara County Public Health, the Jessie Hopkins Hinchee Foundation and Will Bridge Santa Barbara.

Other local Direct Relief initiatives include Healthy Smiles — a program that improves the oral health of low-income, uninsured and at-risk children and families in Santa Barbara County in collaboration with over 30 private and public agencies — as well as Direct Relief’s support of the Santa Barbara County Medical Reserve Corps with a donation of 90 customized backpacks stocked with medical supplies and equipment for all volunteer medical professionals of the Santa Barbara County MRC.

Direct Relief is the largest and only nonprofit program providing free, donated prescription medicines and supplies for low-income and uninsured patients of safety-net community health centers in all 50 states, including California and specifically throughout Santa Barbara County. Click here for more information.

— Hannah Rael is a communications associate for Direct Relief.