Clean, dry diapers are a basic need for babies. Having an adequate supply of diapers makes for a healthier baby and a less-stressed parent. Unfortunately, in the U.S., one in three mothers and families struggle to have enough diapers for their baby, according to the National Diaper Bank Network, which impacts the physical, mental and economic well-being of families.
Diapers are also an expensive necessity if you are struggling to make ends meet. Most babies use six to 10 diapers per day – costing about $70-$80 dollars each month. The ramifications go far beyond the dollar cost.
Without diapers, babies cannot partake in early childhood education programs or child care. Most childcare centers require parents to bring in a day’s worth of disposable diapers for each child. Without childcare, parents are unable to go to work or keep a steady job – creating mental anguish and economic instability for the household.
Children that participate in early childhood education are three times more likely to move on to higher education.
Jessica Adams heard about diaper need on the radio and decided a local diaper bank would be a great place to volunteer. She discovered that St. Louis did not have a diaper bank. After some pondering, Adams did the next best thing; in 2014, she founded the St. Louis Area Diaper Bank.
“I called around to a couple of child-serving organizations – Nurses for Newborns, Maternal Child and Family Health Coalition, the Crisis Nursery and other food pantries and stuff around the area just to ask, ‘Do your clients tell you they need diapers?’ and every one of them said absolutely yes,” Jessica Adams, executive director of the St. Louis Area Diaper Bank. “And the child-serving organizations all said they spend a pretty hefty amount of time and money acquiring diapers to give to their clients.”
Adams said she and her husband, Jay Harden brook, worked to get it started. The diaper bank has been growing steadily since that time, thanks to an active volunteer working board of directors.
Last summer, the St. Louis Area Diaper Bank acted on the opportunity to purchase diapers from another diaper bank in Missouri, Adams said.
“The diaper bank in Kansas City had a surplus of size 1s, which is what we distribute to one of our partner organizations exclusively. We were able to purchase them for 4 cents each when retail is about 25 cents,” Adams described. “That was super cheap and we purchased 30,000 diapers to deliver to this organization, called Sweet Babies.” (Read the Sweet Babies article on the next page.)
The diaper bank distributes 3,000 diapers per month each to Sweet Babies, Parents as Teachers and St. Louis Public Schools.
The diaper bank first operated out of the couple’s garage until the Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry offered them warehouse and office space. Adams said they moved in during early October 2015 pay their rent in diapers.
“They get 4,500 diapers from us every month, which does not meet their need, but it’s a sustainable number for us right now,” Adams said.
In addition to financial donations, the organization receives diaper donations and purchases some diapers wholesale.
“Ninety-eight percent of the diapers that we have in our warehouse right now, which is over 100,000 diapers have been donated from the community,” Adams said. “Folks will have a diaper drive at their church or lots of folks have been collecting diapers in lieu of presents at birthday parties … one family adopted us and purchased diapers for us instead of purchasing presents for each other at Christmas; schools do it – it’s amazing how much we’ve gotten since we moved in.”
Adams said the diaper bank needs additional financial donors as well as diaper donations, especially a few particularly sizes.
“We are always in greatest need of size 4, 5, 6 and then pull-up sized diapers,” Adams said.
The St. Louis Area Diaper Bank distributes only to organizations and groups that distribute to individuals. The bank recently selected seven additional distribution partners.
“One of our major goals for this new major partner application process is to identify some organizations that can be emergency diaper distributors – organizations we can refer folks to and actually go there even if they are not a client of that organization, and go there and receive some diapers.”
To donate or for more information, call 314-384-2512, email jadams@stldiaperbank.org or visit www.stldiaperbank.org.
