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Strollerderby
Dialing for Diapers
What’s the number one need for mothers in homeless shelters? Any guesses?
If your mind went directly to diapers, give yourself a gold star (or at least thank me for the big ol’ hint in the headline). Thrift stores are full of cheap or free clothes, and food stamps help cover the cost of food for many. But there isn’t a government program out there that will pay to keep kids’ butts covered.
Which is where Help a Mother Out is stepping in. A group that found its footing around Mother’s Day this year with a diaper drive to help homeless moms in California, they’re going national in an attempt to keep baby butts safe from sea to shining sea.
Say the moms behind the organization: “If you’re not a parent, you might be surprised to realize that a “jumbo” pack of Pampers costs from $10 to $15—that’s 20 to 30 cents per diaper, depending on the size of the diaper. And if you can’t shop at discount stores like Target or Costco and instead have to rely on corner stores or drugstores, you’ll often end up paying even more per diaper. For reference, a newborn baby goes through 60 or more diapers a week. When money’s tight, that’s a lot of dough to drop.”
Since you’re reading a parenting site, I’m willing to bet you knew the deal with diapers. My first box at the superstore nearly gave me palpitations when I put it on the conveyor belt. And it never got easier (especially not when we moved up a size, and found there were fewer and fewer per box).
Even the women I know who’ve gone cloth (bless you) confess to bigger bills on the cleaning end. When you’re homeless, you can’t go cloth – it’s not feasible. And forget the newer disposables that are meant to break down faster (which I would have killed for just four years ago when my daughter was still diaper clad) but cost a bundle more.
The lack of diapers – or lack of funds – means many poor kids are sitting in soiled diapers for lengthy periods of time, not out of neglect but pure necessity.
So how do you fix it? Check out Help a Mother Out. Hold a diaper drive (they’ve got the dets) or donate to one on their list. You can have Amazon ship straight to their causes, or do it at home and shop your favorite cheap spot for diapers.
Come on, can you help a mother out?
Image: Help a Mother Out
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0 Comments
snarky mama commented on Sep 18 09 at 9:20 pmAs far as cloth diapers, Miracle Diapers is always looking for donations. They mend, launder and do whatever else to the diapers to make them like new, and then pass them on to needy families.
deldelp commented on Sep 18 09 at 9:50 pmHelp A Mother Out has been a great effort by volunteer moms looking to make a difference. One click and you get diapers a case of diapers delivered to a homeless organization helping moms. The bigger sizes are the most needed, and a case of wipes always helps.
Lisa commented on Sep 19 09 at 2:49 amThanks for writing this post about HAMO! We’re big Babble fans, so it is a big deal for us. And if you are not in an area we are in, any domestic violence shelter or family shelter is probably in desperate need of diapers. We also have a diaper drive toolkit to help you get started: http://www.helpamotherout.org/?page_id=1097 Thanks again! -LT
Jody commented on Sep 19 09 at 10:17 amHelp A Mother Out has been an invaluable boost to Brighter Beginnings’ families to help keep their kids in day care so they can stay in school and at their jobs; online ordering and shipment directly to our organization cuts makes it even better! Thanks to everyone who has helped; I encourage more to get involved! http:www.brighter-beginnings.org
Ellissa commented on Sep 19 09 at 3:46 pmThrilled about HAMO! It’s such a great and simple concept. We were thrilled to support their drives at Cubes&Crayons in Mountain View. Keep the diapers coming!
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