Press release from Babies Need Bottoms:
The number of WNC families facing diaper need (the inability to afford a sufficient supply of diapers to keep young children clean, dry and healthy), grew exponentially during the onset of the pandemic. When Covid-19 first hit in March 2020, and the local unemployment rate jumped practically overnight, so many families found themselves facing serious hardships. The Federal Government passed legislation early on to address food insecurity, but to date there has not been any relief directly addressing diaper insecurity.
Instead, diaper banks across the country stepped up, asking our local communities to fill this gap for our neighbors. Prior to the pandemic, 1 in 3 American families faced diaper need. The economic crisis that has resulted from this sudden job loss and sudden loss of childcare has meant that diaper banks across the nation are seeing need rise by 300-400%.
Locally, Babies Need Bottoms Diaper Bank reached a milestone of distributing over 300,000 diapers.
Monthly diaper distributions jumped from 5,000 diapers (July 2019) to over 18,000 (July 2020) – with an annual increase in diaper distribution of 393%. That means diapers went to over 8,500 children in 2020, helping to keep them clean, dry and healthy. Babies Need Bottoms works in partnership with over 50 community based organizations, some of which rely entirely on the diaper bank for diapers, but many are also purchasing diapers for families in addition to what they received through monthly distribution – meaning that diaper need in WNC is actually much higher.
Without any State or Federal diaper relief for families, diaper need continues to rise. Babies Need Bottoms reported requests for over 50,000 diapers in the first two months of 2021.
To meet exponential growth in diaper need, Babies Need Bottoms turned to the local community – hosting diaper drives, speaking with local funders about diaper need, and thanks to support from WNC Bridge Foundation, Pisgah Health Foundation and The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina and others, diaper assistance was expanded to 50 agency partners in 2020. Thanks to local funding received through the McDowell Endowment – an affiliate fund of The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, diaper distribution was expanded to McDowell County in 2020, and thanks to the Gateway Wellness Foundation, distribution expanded to Polk County in 2021.
Before you comment
The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.