If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you might know that I have been interested in collecting diapers to donate to women who cannot afford them. Last year, I collected more than 2500 diapers and dropped them off at a Women’s Drop-In Center in Berkeley. I was inspired by a group of moms calling themselves Help a Mother Out.
This weekend, I will be co-hosting a party in San Francisco at the Peekadoodle Kids Club, and you all are invited. (No, sorry, I can’t buy you a plane ticket.) For Bay Area folks, however, a $35 donation will get your family (of up to five people) admission at this amazing indoor playspace. The party is this Sunday, May 2. Guests will be entered in our raffle and receive swag bags, too! (BUY TICKETS HERE!)
All the money from ticket sales will go to the Mother’s Day Diaper Drive. (BUY TICKETS HERE!)
Why is this so important to me? Because my life is easy. I have never lacked for a parent to comfort me, a bed to sleep in, or enough money to cover basic necessities such as hygiene products.
Other women who have two little kids, who need diapers every week, and don’t have the money to spend on them, are forced to make their diapers stretch – to reuse soiled diapers or to put ill-fitting diapers on their child.
So, here’s the ask my friends: Please consider a) attending one of the diaper drive parties happening around the country; b) making a donation by going to my party link and selecting “I can’t make it, but I’ll be there in spirit”; or c) spreading the word about Help A Mother Out by hosting your own diaper drive or talking about someone else’s diaper drive on your blog or Facebook page.
And once again, the soapbox:
Every baby in America has the right to an adequate supply of clean diapers. Can you imagine not having enough diapers for your baby? Did you know that diapers are not covered under safety net programs like food stamps or WIC? For many families in crisis this can mean being forced to choose between affording other basic human needs — shelter, food, medicine, or diapers. Not having enough diapers can lead to severe diaper rash, increased fussiness, caregiver stress, as well as child neglect and abuse. If you care about this issue and the health of our children, please support Help a Mother Out
Are you in the Bay Area? Come say hi this Sunday, May 2 in San Francisco at the Peekadoodle Kids Club. (BUY A TICKET HERE!)
Are you in Tuscon, LA, Kansas City, Long Island, New Haven, or NYC? There is an event near you, as well.
This sounds like a great cause, and I am interested in supporting it. However, I don’t understand the $2.37 charge for making a donation. Can you explain? Thanks.
Hi Jami,
Good question. The service eventbrite allows us to collect donations free of charge by passing their fees along to the donor instead of the service provider. Since this is a not-for-profit activity, Help A Mother Out doesn’t spend money on a fundraising tool. If you’d like, type in an amount you’d like to donate, minute $2.37 for the fees. Thanks so much for considering a donation!
Apart from donating disposable diapers, I´d suggest spreading the ideas of cloth diapers and also Elimination Communication.
Eternal Voyageur,
I cloth diapered my own child, but unfortunately it isn’t a choice for those in shelters, or if you are using childcare, or if you have to use a laundromat. We would probably agree that the constraints and the causes of the above situations to change, but in the meantime cloth and EC are not an option for those in need of these services and there are babies, disabled adults and elderly wrapped in soiled diapers, towels, plastic bags etc.
For my thoughts on this see here: http://growfamilygrow.wordpress.com/2010/04/06/cloth-vs-disposable-where-the-debate-has-no-place/
Actually, Help A Mother Out also addresses this on their website: http://helpamotherout.org
Did you know that you can diaper a child from birth to potty for about $200 if you use the cheapest kind of cloth diapers? Even the most expensive kind are less than disposables. I think its great to consider your own privilege and help others, but there is a much more affordable way for everyone (yes, everyone, even people who work full time) to have clean diapers.
The real diaper association has educational circles in many parts of the country. I’m not a lobbyist, just a mom without much money who is sad that Americans don’t have anyone to teach them this easy way to save thousands of dollars in the first year.
http://www.realdiaperassociation.org/
I left that comment at the same time as Tepary’s.
I completely understand that most poor Americans won’t be using cloth diapers, and that’s fine! But some of us do cloth diaper and use laundromats. It isn’t impossible, and I think its particularly hard since we don’t have people around to teach us. I would love to donate my diapers to someone in need when they’re done, but I don’t have much hope that they’ll be used when the majority of people dismiss the possibility out of hand.
Kate,
Here is a site http://www.diaperjungle.com/cloth-diaper-charity-links.html with information about cloth diaper donation.
You’re right, I got laughed at when we said we were cloth diapering. Education is needed, change in policies at the local level are needed, the level of homelessness among families with young children needs to decline, but in the meantime there are families who don’t have the option (the laudromats near us are pretty clear in this policy as are the daycares, and I had more than one funny look from guests when they saw me putting diapers into the washing machine, I imagine the reaction in shared housing is more difficult to battle.) We must help those families in need now, which means disposable diapers, while supporting cloth diapering and changing policies toward cloth diapering. Did you know that NAEYC policy makes it difficult for accredited daycare to support CD? Or that local county govt. put restrictions on CD too? That is certainly what we dealt with in Tucson. Lets start with changing that, and the perception of cloth diapers, while providing a working solution for families now, which means in many cases, disposable diapers.