At an average price of 35 cents per disposable diaper and a rate of 90 changes a week until a child is 2½, it costs $4,095 to diaper a child, according to Homeward Bound, an local organization that assists families in need.
For many Valley families who are struggling just to keep a roof over their heads, this is an impossible number. Even those receiving government assistance to feed their families struggle to afford necessities like diapers, wipes, soap and other items not covered by the food stamps program.
That’s what got Eileen Rogers involved. The owner of Allegra Print & Imaging in Scottsdale had served as a volunteer member of Scottsdale’s human services commission for six years when Homeward Bound Executive Director Pam Martin, PhD, approached her with stories of mothers in their program forced to make tough choices like whether to buy diapers or formula.
She asked Rogers to join Homeward Bound’s board. “You could really help us by helping our babies,” Martin told her.
Rogers accepted the challenge and in November 1999, the Baby Diaper Drive was launched. Donations of diapers, wipes, formula, playpens and cash are collected each year to benefit families in the Homeward Bound program. The program assists families on the road to independence and bridges the gaps between homelessness or government assistance and self-reliance.
Homeward Bound families live in their own homes or in one of 162 units provided by the organization. Assistance gradually tapers off as they climb rungs on the ladder to financial freedom.
“These families are on tight budgets,” notes Rogers, who has no children of her own but is a proud aunt to 2-year-old Olivia. When a family’s grocery money must be used for other priorities (like fixing a car tire so the parent can get to work), the case worker assigned to them can access an emergency fund to provide them with diapers, wipes, formula and other needs.
Cash collected in the drive is often used to address needs for health care, prescriptions or items like car seats or eyeglasses.
“One mother with MS (multiple sclerosis) was only able to get her kids around in a double stroller. When the axle broke, the emergency fund was able to cover it,” explains Rogers. Emergency funds might also be used to cover childcare so that a single mother can make her way back into the work force.
The Baby Diaper Drive has collected more than half a million dollars since its inception and the ninth annual drive kicks off again this month. The goal is to collect 100,000 diapers and $75,000 in emergency funds. You can help by organizing a drive at your church or office or with your child’s school or extracurricular groups. Rogers, a.k.a. the “Diaper Lady,” will come in and give a motivational speech, provide flyers and assist in any way possible. She encourages involving children, who have become important to the success of the drive.
“We wouldn’t have made our goals this year without the schools,” says Rogers. Summit School of Ahwatukee participated in the 2006 drive and held a class-by-class competition to see who could collect the most diapers.
Homeward Bound arranged for the kids to tour their largest housing facility, the Thunderbird Family Village, to meet some of the families they helped.
“They could look at the children and see that, ‘Hey, that kid looks just like me,’” Rogers says. “Teaching these children to give and learn these lessons early and then watching them make that connection…it’s just the icing on the cake.”
By the numbers
- $40 will cover one week of diapers and wipes for one child
- $160 will cover a month of diapers and wipes for one child
- 90 donated diapers and a box of 160 wipes will cover one week for one child
- 360 donated diapers and four boxes of wipes will cover one month for one child
- $175 will cover the cost of 500 diapers
- $350 will cover the cost of 1,000 diapers
- $1,700 covers the cost of diapers and wipes for one year for one child
- $1,000 to the Emergency Baby Fund will cover special needs such as glasses, speech therapy, hearing aids, therapeutic equipment, prescriptions and special dietary needs for babies and children at Homeward Bound.
One hundred percent of any donation you make goes directly to the families at Homeward Bound, a 501(c)(3) organization. All donations are tax deductible.
How to help
- Call 480-941-4842 to arrange pickup service.
- Mail a cash donation (make checks payable to Homeward Bound) to the emergency baby fund c/o Allegra Print & Imaging, 3639 N. Marshall Way, Scottsdale, AZ 85251.
- Drop off baby items or cash donations at Allegra Print & Imaging (or one of several other business partners listed at babydrive.org) between Nov. 15 and Jan. 15.
- Visit babydrive.org and click on “Host Your Own Drive” if you are interested in organizing a drive through your work or your child’s school.
