We hear a lot about the increased need for food assistance for families struggling during the pandemic. There's also a surge in the need for diaper donations. The diaper bank Happy Bottoms has made a lot of changes to meet that growing demand.The organization did a special delivery of diapers for families who can't afford them and have no transportation. It's just one way that Happy Bottoms diaper bank is going the extra mile to help families hit by the pandemic. Many who never needed help before."Most people don't know that diapers aren't covered by government assistance programs like food stamps or WIC, so you know you can buy Cheetos but you can't buy diapers," said Jill Gaikowski, executive director of Happy Bottoms.While we were hearing about a toilet paper shortage, Happy Bottoms was dealing with a diaper shortage. Donations and conscientious vendors stepped up, even a few celebrities heard about the need in Kansas City."Kristen Bell this year gave us a shout out and she also donated some diapers from her company Hello Bella, which was, it just incredibly exciting for us," Gaikowski said.Supply isn't the only challenge. COVID-19 restrictions drastically cut the number of volunteers. With many agencies shut down, it had to find new distribution sites and set up drive-thru deliveries. During the pandemic, the diaper bank is serving 1,000 more children each month than previous years and the need is not going away."I'm concerned that we're going to be feeling effects from this pandemic for all of 2021 maybe 2022, and families are still really struggling," Gaikowski said. "Not having diapers means you can't send your kid to daycare, which means you can't go to work. That's a huge economic impact for Kansas City,"
We hear a lot about the increased need for food assistance for families struggling during the pandemic. There's also a surge in the need for diaper donations. The diaper bank Happy Bottoms has made a lot of changes to meet that growing demand.
The organization did a special delivery of diapers for families who can't afford them and have no transportation. It's just one way that Happy Bottoms diaper bank is going the extra mile to help families hit by the pandemic. Many who never needed help before.
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"Most people don't know that diapers aren't covered by government assistance programs like food stamps or WIC, so you know you can buy Cheetos but you can't buy diapers," said Jill Gaikowski, executive director of Happy Bottoms.
While we were hearing about a toilet paper shortage, Happy Bottoms was dealing with a diaper shortage. Donations and conscientious vendors stepped up, even a few celebrities heard about the need in Kansas City.
"Kristen Bell this year gave us a shout out and she also donated some diapers from her company Hello Bella, which was, it just incredibly exciting for us," Gaikowski said.
Supply isn't the only challenge. COVID-19 restrictions drastically cut the number of volunteers. With many agencies shut down, it had to find new distribution sites and set up drive-thru deliveries. During the pandemic, the diaper bank is serving 1,000 more children each month than previous years and the need is not going away.
"I'm concerned that we're going to be feeling effects from this pandemic for all of 2021 maybe 2022, and families are still really struggling," Gaikowski said. "Not having diapers means you can't send your kid to daycare, which means you can't go to work. That's a huge economic impact for Kansas City,"
December 19, 2020 at 06:49AM
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Happy Bottoms diaper bank going extra mile to help families during pandemic - KMBC Kansas City
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