Town of Carrboro Urges Residents to ‘Donate Generously’ to Diaper Banks

Last week, the Town of Carrboro issued a proclamation urging residents to “donate generously” to diaper banks and diaper drives as they continue to see a big influx of need amid the pandemic.

With 1 in 3 families experiencing diaper need in the U.S., organizations such as the Diaper Bank of North Carolina, or DBNC, are working hard to help alleviate this problem.

At Carrboro’s town council meeting last Tuesday, Carrboro Mayor Lavelle said representatives from the DBNC were in attendance to emphasize the immense need for diapers during a pandemic.

“We’re always reminded every year about how important it is to be able to donate diapers to the diaper bank or to make certain that folks have diapers,” Lavelle said. “What we heard from the folks with the diaper bank who were at the meeting on Tuesday night was that, as you might expect, this year the need is even more dire than ever. When families have to make a decision between food and diapers for their kids, they’re going for food for everyone and really stretching out the diapers.”

The National Diaper Bank Network reports that diapers cost $70 to $80 dollars per month for each baby. The poorest 20 percent of Americans spend nearly 14 percent of their post-tax income on diapers. In times of a pandemic, financial concerns are made worse by social distancing measures, loss of jobs and material hardship as people stay home without access to their usual support systems.

Most public safety net programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, do not cover the purchase of diapers. Because of this, The DBNC said families are often left with the difficult decision to either buy diapers or other necessities with their limited funds.

Further, according to the National Diaper Bank Network, most childcare centers, even free and subsidized facilities, require parents to provide a day’s supply of disposable diapers

“This is one of those extra things that I hadn’t really thought about during the pandemic – about how much worse it probably is for folks just trying to keep up with that,” Lavelle said. “You have to have adequate diapers to have your kid in childcare, for example. So I wanted to put this out there for folks who might be willing to donate to the diaper bank.”

As of September 22, the DBNC has distributed over one million baby diapers to North Carolina families since the start of the pandemic in March. To learn more about volunteer opportunities, or to donate to the Diaper Bank of North Carolina, click here.

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