MADISON — St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church community project for advent, collecting diapers for children in need, far exceeded its goal.
“We’ve done food drives before, but I thought the diaper drive was something different and something very understandable and accessible,” said Louise Beecher, a member of the Vestry at St. Andrews.
The “Race to the Bottom” project netted 6,301 diapers and 664 baby wipes for Clinton-based Bare Necessities.
The not-for-profit organization, Bare Necessities, provides diapers and wipes to local shoreline communities through food pantries, social service agencies and other community service organizations.
Beecher said the timing was just right for this project when church activities were restricted by COVID.
“Under the rules, there are no in church services or other activities right now in the sanctuary, so this lent itself to it,” she said. “Anyone who was donating could drop off the box on the front steps of the sanctuary which is covered by an awning.”
For Bare Necessities, this was a much-needed donation. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the families receiving diapers has doubled.
“We have almost 700 families that have received diapers, at least once, during 2020,” said Tina Bascom, vice president and founding member of Bare Necessities, Inc.
The most sought-after sizes are 4 to 6, she added, which is what the St. Andrew’s drive collected.
“It is always overwhelming when we receive such a generous number of diapers, especially from a new community partner,” said Bascom. “I always say that a diaper drive is considered successful by the number of people that know about diaper need.”
Bascom said that since November 2020, the organization has distributed over 287,000 diapers on the shoreline. They have been unable to distribute baby wipes since July due to not being able to get the quantity they need at a price they could afford.
Beecher said the church was excited about this community project.
“What we did just for the fun, and we’d like to expand the project if we did it next year, was that we tried to organize them into a pyramid, sort of a Christmas tree shape,” said Beecher. “Those were in front of the (church) windows.”
Looking back on the diaper drive, Beecher said everyone involved was positive about the number of diapers collected for those in the community who were in need.
“We feel terrific,” Beecher said. “If I was struggling, I wouldn’t know where to turn. I could figure out pretty quickly where to go for help for food or even to get toys for my children, but this kind of basic need, I think, is overlooked.”
Bare Necessities, 24 W. Main St., Suite 414, Clinton, 203-928-7558; barenecessitiesct.org; Facebook Bare Necessities, Inc.
Packages of diapers are stacked at the Michael Klahr Jewish Family Services Diaper Bank on Dec. 23. The diaper bank is the only one in southern Maine and has seen a dramatic rise in need since the start of the pandemic. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer
In the six years since the opening of southern Maine’s only diaper bank, the need has never been so high.
Over the past nine months, the Portland-based operation has distributed roughly 500,000 diapers to local families, a sharp increase from the nearly 300,000 it typically hands out each year.
“It’s crazy to me what diaper need in this community looks like right now,” said Karli Efron, who runs the Michael Klahr Jewish Family Services Diaper Bank. “The need has just grown exponentially since COVID started.”
Diaper banks have sprung up around the country in recent years, fueled by studies linking an inadequate supply of diapers to a range of short- and long-term health problems in children. The Portland effort is not the only one straining to keep up with demand as families can no longer afford to buy an adequate supply.
Infants require up to 12 diapers a day, while toddlers typically use around eight. For most families, that means the monthly cost for disposable diapers reaches $70 to $80.
Members of the National Diaper Bank Network are on track to distribute millions more diapers this year than ever before, with local diaper banks distributing an average of 50 percent more diapers each month. The need for diaper assistance is not expected to lessen any time soon.
Diaper need – the lack of a sufficient supply of diapers to keep a baby or toddler clean, dry and healthy – is a very real problem for many Americans, but is rarely talked about, according to health experts and advocates. And the problem has been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, which has put more financial strain on already struggling families and periodically led to empty diaper shelves at stores.
According to the National Diaper Bank Network, 1 in 3 families in the United States report experiencing diaper need. Without clean diapers, babies are exposed to potential health risks such as infections and long-term effects of toxic stress; mother are at increased risk of maternal depression, and parents miss work if they cannot access child care because they can’t supply enough diapers. Researchers have even linked not having enough diapers with increased risk of child abuse as children are uncomfortable and families are stressed.
“It has very real and significant mental health impacts for an entire family, and all because you’re short three or four diapers over the course of the week,” Efron said. “For many parents, it leaves this sense of shame that they cannot provide this basic necessity for their children.”
There is little assistance available for parents who cannot afford to buy enough diapers. Assistance programs like SNAP and WIC don’t include money for diapers. Money from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) could be used for diapers, but in Maine doing so would use up about 16 percent of the monthly benefit.
The Portland diaper bank is operated by the Michael Klahr Jewish Family Services, a nonprofit that serves those in need throughout southern Maine and is part of the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine.
“When you look at how families can purchase diapers, much of the subsidies families are using don’t cover the cost of diapers. It’s a large expense for families,” said Louise Marsden, vice president of programs at The Opportunity Alliance, which partners with the diaper bank to distribute diapers to clients.
Joanne Samuel Goldblum, founder and CEO of the National Diaper Bank Network, said there have been unsuccessful attempts to include funding for diaper banks in federal stimulus packages this year. The push for more funding comes as diaper banks across the country report higher need as people lose income because of the coronavirus, she said.
“People don’t have the money they need for their basis necessities,” Goldblum said.
In May, Sen. Susan Collins joined a bipartisan group of senators who pushed for diaper assistance in COVID-19 relief packages. The relief law signed by President Trump does not include money for diaper banks.
“Diaper banks play a critical role in our communities by helping families keep their babies healthy and safe. These nonprofits distribute tens of millions of diapers annually, but the pandemic and the ensuing economic crisis have created unprecedented demand for these services,” Collins said in a statement. “Although the relief package that passed Congress (on Dec. 21) does include support for struggling families, including stimulus checks, supplemental unemployment insurance benefits, and nutrition and rental assistance, I will continue to push for additional support for diaper banks.”
The diaper bank in Portland was the first to open in Maine and become a member of the National Diaper Bank Network. The other diaper bank in Maine is the We Care Community Baby Center in Machias.
Efron, who is Michael Klahr Jewish Family Services director, had not thought about diaper need before talking with a pregnant woman at the food pantry.
“She said she didn’t know how she was going to pay for diapers. That’s when the lightbulb went off,” she said.
Efron said she finds many people have that lightbulb moment when they hear about the need for diapers in the community. She’s heard from parents who have improvised with newspaper or towels when they run out of diapers.
“Anyone who has a child in diapers realizes how essential that product is,” she said. “You can’t not have them.”
In its first year, the diaper bank handed out 16,000 diapers. The diaper bank typically provides 50 to 100 diapers per baby each month during monthly distributions. It also partners with about 15 agencies – including The Opportunity Alliance, food pantries and shelters – to get diapers to clients who need them.
At the next diaper distribution in January, Efron expects the diaper bank will serve 100 to 150 families. Since the start of the pandemic, the diaper bank has switched to a drive-thru model and has started doing deliveries for families who cannot get to the bank.
When the stay-at-home order was put in place in the spring, the food bank fielded calls from frantic parents who could not find diapers on store shelves because of panic buying, Efron said. She started getting more inquiries from parents interested in using cloth diapers. She offered cloth diapering 101 classes on Zoom for about 15 families who were able to make the switch from disposable diapers.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, The Opportunity Alliance, the community action agency for Cumberland County, has seen an increase in clients who need help with basic necessities, including diapers, Marsden said. Between April and the end of September, the agency delivered 80,000 diapers to clients.
“If you were a family living in poverty prior to the pandemic, your situation has gotten vastly worse,” Marsden said. “For single mothers, the need for diapers is a very real thing.”
In January, the diaper bank partnered with MaineHealth, which asks parents during well visits if they have enough diapers. If the answer is no, the parent is given a package of diapers and a referral to the diaper bank.
Dr. Stephen DiGiovanni, a pediatrician and medical director at the Maine Medical Center Outpatient Clinics, said MaineHealth doctors are working to normalize screenings for diaper need by asking every parent if they have an adequate supply. They ask the same questions about food and can provide 1o-pound bags of food to patients who need it.
At the pediatric clinic where DiGiovanni works, 20 to 30 percent of families report they struggle to afford diapers, he said.
DiGiovanni said babies and toddlers face increased health risks and stress when parents have to leave them in a soiled diaper for too long. Research shows those babies are at greater risk of diaper rashes and urinary tract infections, which can have a snowball effect on a child’s long-term health.
A 2013 Yale study found that diaper need was more highly correlated with maternal stress and depression than any other stressor. Providing families with basic necessities like diapers can go a long way in reducing parental stress, a critical factor influencing child health and development, DiGiovanni said.
“It’s an incredible public health intervention,” DiGiovanni said. “If we can support the parents, they can best provide a strong environment for development and brain growth. Sometimes it’s the smallest things such as providing diapers that can help a family succeed.”
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The beginning of 2020 for the Little Lambs Diaper Bank was expected to be an average year with average challenges, as Cache Valley families faced occasional company layoffs, increasing rent prices and the 25.4% Logan city poverty rate. But as we all know now, the 2020 year would be anything but average.
The COVID-19 pandemic spared few families in one way or another. Many families in our community were immediately impacted as reactionary buying cleared the shelves including frozen goods, toilet paper, hygiene items, diapers and wipes. If you were a family with a baby in diapers, panic set in as you could not find diapers or wipes to buy in any of the valleys stores or online as the entire country was in the same grasp of this horrible virus. And, as usual, low-income families, many of whom live paycheck to paycheck are not able to afford to buy diapers in bulk, and were even more disadvantaged. These families were already having to make difficult decisions, like whether to spend money on basic essentials like diapers, wipes, hygiene, food or pay rent.
Little Lambs Diaper Bank went into overdrive to help these families in their time of need. On March 14 Little Lambs set up the first of 15 “Drive-Thru Diaper Distributions.” In our Drive-Thru no contact distributions we provided diapers, wipes, feminine hygiene products, formula, baby food, clothing, coats, blankets and warm winter wear. The distribution's were open to the public to any families who were being affected by the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some families struggled to find diapers at the store or were unable to afford the diapers altogether.
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Families who came to our distributions were having to reuse diapers, wrap their babies in T-shirts or leave their babies in soiled diapers for an extended amount of time. As sad as this may sound, to this day it’s still happening in our community on a daily basis. We have received phone calls and emails from our community members asking for assistance.
These families deserve dignity and respect, and no one should have to worry about affording these basic necessities. Unfortunately, income hardships in Utah are nothing new, but it's been multiplied by the COVID-19 pandemic. In pre-COVID times, 1 in 3 Utah families suffered from diaper need, struggling to properly provide an adequate supply of diapers. Due to the pandemic that number is even higher.
The Little Lambs Diaper Bank works hard to provide these basic essentials to families in need right here in our community. We couldn’t provide our essential services without our amazing donors and supporters.
In the past year, because of the love and kindness of our community the Little Lambs Foundation for Kids has distributed: more than 750,000 diapers, nearly 6,500 wipes, and by the end of this year Little Lambs will have distributed over a million basic essentials that no child should have to go without.
During these trying and difficult times, the Little Lambs Diaper Bank is doing more than just handing out diapers and wipes to those in need, we are investing in the future of our community through the love and support of our amazing volunteers, supporters and donors.
Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Little Lambs Foundation for Kids. It's the most effective way to support our mission, as we can leverage your dollars with our buying power and strategic network of partners. To give, visit us online at Littlelambsofutah.org and click the "Donate" icon.
Ted Chalfant of Nibley is the co-founder and executive director of Little Lambs Foundation for Kids.
Univera Healthcare is providing $10,000 in financial support to Every Bottom Covered, a diaper bank in Buffalo.
A diaper bank is like a food bank that distributes diapers.
Every Bottom Covered also will partner with organizations who have like-minded missions to help low-income families.
“More than ever, there are people who need basic necessities for their families, like diapers,” said Art Wingerter, Univera Healthcare president. “We are committed to helping families in our community keep their children healthy.”
Most child-care centers, even free and subsidized facilities, require parents to provide a day’s supply of disposable diapers. This means many parents cannot go to work or school if they cannot leave their babies at child care.
“Receiving this grant helps Every Bottom Covered ensure that no child’s bottom will be left uncovered by helping us to purchase more diapers and wipes and begin to expand into communities that may not always be able to get to the Delavan Grider Community Center,” said Raziya Hill, Every Bottom Covered executive director and founder.
The organization is in the Delavan Grider Community Center. Learn more at everybottomcovered.org.
My baby girl has opened up a whole new world to me. She has made me softer (literally and metaphorically!) and also gentler. Looking at her exploring the world makes me want to work even harder to make it a better place so that she can experience the joys of life without hardship.
Having a baby has also made me much more realistic about how I apply zero-waste principles to my life. It's reminded me that there are things we can do every day and some things that might be just a bit too hard due to lack of sleep or time. And that's OK.
Using cloth diapers is one simple planet-friendly switch that I have been able to stick with.
I started testing cloth diapers after learning that single-use, disposable ones take over 400 years to break down in landfills, leaching methane gas and contributing to the greenhouse effect in the process. Reusable diapers are the more planet-friendly (and affordable) option and I've found them to be relatively easy to use—and clean.
Here's the down-and-dirty explanation of how I've been washing them:
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WEST PARK, FLA. (WSVN) - With so many families struggling because of the pandemic, it’s especially hard for those with babies.
There are moments with their children that mom Shannon and dad Gary won’t forget, but there’s another moment, from just last week, that Shannon can’t shake.
“We were counting coins to get a gallon of milk,” she said. “I was counting coins for one gallon of milk.”
Shannon stays at home with her 3-year-old daughter Emma. Her 10-year-old son, Daniel, is now going to school virtually.
About a decade ago, Gary fell off of a scaffolding at his construction job.
“And nearly broke his back,” Shannon said.
Broken shoulders, a hernia and injuries to his knees and hand left him unable to work.
“He gets SSI, and he doesn’t get very much,” Shannon said.
The federal program WIC, aimed at families with young children, helps with food, but there’s one thing it doesn’t cover.
“There’s no resources that provide diapers to families in South Florida,” said Brittany Wolfe, founder of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Diaper Bank, “so you can’t get them through WIC, you can’t get them through food stamps. There’s no way families can get diapers.”
Diapers can cost a family hundreds of dollars a year, which is why Wolfe founded her organization.
The diaper bank operates once a month, handing out about 1,000 packs of diapers a month, much like a food bank.
A 2017 study found one in three American families have a hard time covering the cost of diapers, and with the COVID crisis, the need is only growing.
“It’s so hard for everyone, so we’ve been doing as much as we can,” Wolfe said.
“You save $20 here, $15 there, it does food, lights,” Gary said. “It all adds up.”
Some parents, Wolfe said, are forced to take extreme measures to stretch out their supply.
“A mom will contact me. A mom says, ‘My baby was in the hospital, in NICU because I was using Luvs or Pampers, and I was washing them out with soap and water and hanging to dry,’ but bacteria lives on a diaper and it doesn’t go away,” she said.
When asked if she ever had to resort to that, Shannon replied, “I tried. Yeah, yeah. I was like, ‘Oh, my God. I’m reduced to doing this, but luckily, I rigged like a pad on it for her, and it worked out.”
In a year full of struggles, Shannon said the diaper bank eases a small daily struggle by helping a parent provide one very basic need.
The Greater Fort Lauderdale Bank holds its diaper giveaway once a month — the first Thursday of every month — at the Cooper City Fire Station.
Those interested must register ahead of time and can do so by clicking here.
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December 25, 2020 at 03:52AM
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West Park family shares how the Greater Fort Lauderdale Diaper Bank helped them during pandemic - WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports | Fort Lauderdale
The National Diaper Action Network received donations in excess of $10,000 after the call to donate was started by noted Bills fan @Brother__Bill. Many of the donations were in increments of $17.71, 17 for Allen's jersey number and 71 to cover the fees so the organization could retain all $17.
As the campaign gained steam, Jones created the url ILOVEJOSHALLEN.COM, which redirects users to a fundraising page that features his call to donate to the organization and has information highlighting diaper need in the United States.
The national network said Tuesday that it will be giving a $5,000 grant to Every Bottom Covered, a Western New York non-profit organization that distributes diapers to families in need and is a member of the national network. The organization is moving into a larger warehouse next month and expanding its services to eight counties in the region.
“These donations were unexpected holiday gifts, but very much needed, particularly because of the COVID crisis,” Joanne Samuel Goldblum, CEO of the National Diaper Bank Network, said in a statement. “We appreciate Bomani’s continued support for our work, and are tremendously grateful to Bills fans as well. So, it’s fitting that we share the donations with our member diaper bank program in Buffalo, Every Bottom Covered.”
The donations come at a time when the demand for diapers has surged as families struggle with economic hardships.
"We are doing our best to keep up with the demand for diapers, which has increased more than 35% in 2020 compared to last year. But, we cannot do what we do without community support from people like the Bills Mafia," Every Bottom Covered Executive Director and Founder Raziya Hill said in a statement. "We need ongoing donations of diapers, dollars and time to ensure that Buffalo-area children have the material basic necessities they need to thrive.”
More information about Every Bottom Covered, and how to get involved, is available online at everybottomcovered.org.
The initial podcast remarks were made on an episode of the podcast entitled, "Truth Telling on Josh Allen."
"The dude has gotten way better than I ever thought he would," Jones said.
Domonique Foxworth, a former NFL defensive back, responded: "You are more developed in this way than I am. I don’t root against Josh Allen. He seems like a nice enough guy. He has gotten better. I am fully aware that I have biases. My biases are not based on Josh Allen. It’s based on the people defending Josh Allen. I would be 100% lying if I said that when Josh does something dumb, a little part of me doesn’t get happy. It’s not because I don’t want Josh to succeed. It’s because the people who are telling me that Josh Allen is the second coming and better than everyone are people with American flags, and dogs and skulls and crossbones. If you just take a dip into their tweet history, there are some really concerning retweets and likes. It’s not about Josh. … Generally, I’m pro-player and understand a player’s position and defend a player. But in Josh’s case, it’s not about him. He is the ground on which we are fighting."
The remarks upset several Bills players who felt they had racial undertones and painted Bills fans with a broad brush. Foxworth responded to safety Jordan Poyer via social media, and said what he said has been taken out of context and he referred to Allen as "my new favorite quarterback."
Feed your obsession. Start every morning with a guide to the latest news from One Bills Drive and stay informed about what is going on elsewhere in the NFL.
CEDAR RAPIDS — Because of the economic hardship faced by many this year, one local nonprofit providing for some of the area’s littlest residents saw its biggest growth to date.
The Eastern Iowa Diaper Bank has donated more than 615,000 diapers to local families in need in the past year — roughly six times its previous donation record.
“I don’t think any of us would have guessed that we would have been able to do it through 2020, and the only reason we’ve been able to do it is because community support,” said Erin Langdon, chief development officer at Eastern Iowa Health Center and organizer of the Diaper Bank.
Langdon estimated the bank donated about 150,000 diapers last year.
The organization was created through a partnership with YPN, the young family support network, and the Eastern Iowa Health Center, the Cedar Rapids-based federally qualified health center. The organization was started to aid some of the lowest income families in the community — families officials estimate can spend up to 14 percent of their paycheck on diapers alone.
Clients with either of those organizations could enroll in the program to earn free diapers for their babies and toddlers throughout the year by completing well-check visits, finishing a YPN program or participating in other services offered by these nonprofits.
But for the first time this year, the Diaper Bank did not limit its donations to program participants and opened its doors to any member of the community in need, thus hugely increasing the client base.
“We saw the need was out there, and we saw the community was willing to help,” said Alejandro Pino, YPN executive director and Diaper Bank organizer.
Some other not-for-profits have struggled this year as fewer people donated. But Pino said this effort has been “really fortunate” to have seen an increase in new donors, helping it meet the increase in need.
Organizers opted to open the bank up to community members in March, when the coronavirus pandemic first reached Iowa and the beginning of the economic downturn was starting to affect thousands in Eastern Iowa. They opened a drive-through at its downtown Cedar Rapids location.
Langdon said organizers were planning to return to its client-only model by the end of the summer. But then the Aug. 10 derecho hit.
“It’s been really interesting to see who’s come through the bank,” Langdon said. “We’ve seen all walks of life. We see typical participants who are struggling, but also people who have been furloughed or have lost their jobs due to the pandemic. And this is a really essential need for every baby and toddler.”
Langdon said the Diaper Bank will be returning to its participation model at the beginning of the year to maintain its long-term sustainability.
Until the end of this month, the bank needs more donations to meet the need over the holidays. Currently, the biggest needs are size 5 and 6 diapers and pullups.
“I never thought this pet project we started in 2016 would be to this magnitude,” Langdon said.
Pino said organizers expect more clients will enroll in the program through YPN or the Eastern Iowa Health Center, and hope their new donors will return in the upcoming year.
“We continue to adapt our program over the years, and this year will be no different,” Langdon said. “We just look forward to being able to continue to meet the needs and grow as we move forward out of the pandemic, but realizing the needs for children and families don’t go away.”
The economic devastation of coronavirus has hit some older adults particularly hard, driving up demand for diapers and other sanctuary products in social service agencies across the state.
By Liora Engel-Smith
John Henry Jeter remembers a time when his agency’s adult diaper cache gathered dust on the shelf. But then the pandemic started, that’s when incontinence and hygiene products started flying off the shelves.
Tarboro Community Outreach serves some of the neediest in Edgecombe County, an area that had the highest rates of hunger in the state even before the pandemic. Jeter, who works at the center, says clients seem to need more of everything these days.
“People were coming, and when they shop, we found out how many they were shopping for. [Before], they were shopping for themselves or a father or mother,” he said, “But then it started increasing. They were shopping for eight. They were shopping for nine.”
Jeter said that food pantry staff take clients at their word, and it’s likely that more people are living with their extended families to get by.
While demand for food increased gradually and remains high, the demand for adult diapers increased right away. In early spring, as people with more means hoarded toilet paper and other necessities, clients told Jeter that diaper prices increased beyond what they could afford. Adult diapers — sometimes used for a short time after surgery, but often longer in people with bladder or bowel control issues — are expensive to begin with.
The online diaper outlet iDiaper estimates that at $1 a diaper, people can spend between $100 to $180 a month on diapers, depending on brand and how frequently diapers have to be changed.
To make matters more complicated, Medicare does not cover incontinence products. North Carolina’s Medicaid program covers adult incontinence products when prescribed by a provider, but the program’s reach is limited by strict eligibility criteria that exclude all but people with disabilities, and seniors, pregnant women and children who are low income.
Student volunteer Amaya Burch, 15, packs diapers at the Diaper Bank of North Carolina. Burch and several other students from Durham’s Riverside High School created packages of 25 diapers apiece to be distributed to people in need. Photo credit: Liora Engel-Smith.
While buying diapers in bulk could decrease the cost, many low-income people cannot afford to spend that entire amount all at once, said Michelle Old, executive director of Diaper Bank of North Carolina, an organization that distributes period products and adult and baby diapers across the state.
The Diaper Bank distributes supplies to social service agencies and food pantries regularly. Since the pandemic began, Old said there’s been an uptick in rural agencies seeking adult diapers and other such products. She said she has gotten calls from social service agencies in every county in North Carolina.
“We are buying more diapers than we ever have,” she said.
Strains of the new normal
Demand for adult diapers and other sanitary products increased and remained high since the pandemic began in early spring. On average, the Diaper Bank distributed more than a million diapers to social service agencies across the state and 2 million menstrual products. As unemployment and economic instability from the coronavirus pandemic rippled across the state, Old said demand swelled by 800 percent for menstrual products and 2,000 percent for adult incontinence supplies, including bed covers, diapers and pads.
The vast majority of breadwinners in families that get the products the diaper bank distributes have held down two or even three jobs to stay afloat, Old said. But the coronavirus control measures meant that service industry employees such as food servers, bartenders and hairdressers lost their sources of income for a few months, some for even longer.
Even as these jobs returned, people’s finances have not yet recovered, said Jessica Slider Whichard, director of communications at the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, an organization that distributes diapers and food to 900 social service agencies in 34 counties.
“It takes a really long time to recover,” Slider Whichard said. “So even if folks are back in the workforce, they have depleted their savings or made choices about what to pay and what not to pay.”
Rural hurdles
The challenges of purchasing adult diapers are magnified in rural areas, where there are fewer products and stores to choose from, Old said. While shopping for supplies online can be cheaper, some rural residents lack internet service or even a reliable phone connection at home, making it difficult to access these services.
“They often don’t have money to buy them online,” she said. “So lots of times they’re going to the little convenience food [store] that’s near them and [diapers] are marked up.”
The safety net is also sparser in rural areas, with fewer social service agencies, which means clients may struggle to reach a food pantry or another organization that may offer adult diapers for free. Transportation to these agencies may also be an issue, Old said.
Ethan Smith, 17, a volunteer from Riverside High School in Durham, packages diapers at the Diaper Bank of North Carolina. Demands for diapers, adult incontinence products, tampons and pads has risen sharply since the pandemic began. Photo credit: Liora Engel-Smith
Slider Whichard, from the food bank, said there has been an uptick in demand for diapers and similar products across the board. The overall demand for products, she said, increased by 38 percent.
“In times of crisis and disaster, those products are incredibly expensive,” she said. “They’re necessities, but they’re also really pricey. And when people are taking a look at what they can afford, the choices they’re having to make [is] between gas money, food or rent.”
Even with calls from agencies all over the state, Old, from the diaper bank, said the true need is likely much higher. Not every adult who can’t afford diapers feels comfortable enough to reach out for help, she said. With hurdles such as transportation, even those who are comfortable may not have the means to get the help they need.
“We’re missing a lot of families,” Old said.
If nothing else, word of mouth has helped the Tarboro Community Outreach, the Edgecombe County agency that gives out food and adult diapers, reach new populations across the county, said Jetter.
At least some of the demand for adult diapers has always been there, he said, but clients didn’t know they could get diapers at the Tarboro organization.
“A couple of people asked about it,” he said. “ … and they would get [the diapers] and they would try to get them out discreetly, and then somebody saw us doing that, and that’s when it took off.”
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