Diapers are an expensive necessity that can have a deep impact on a family’s budget. Families with young children or seniors often find themselves making difficult choices, particularly during a time of rising inflation.
The Food Bank works with an ever-increasing network of partner agencies to reduce this burden for impacted families and individuals through its Diaper Bank Program.
“We started the Diaper Bank Program knowing diapers and adult incontinence products are basic need items,” says Programs and Partnerships Services Manager Sarah DeFrank. “The cost of diapers and incontinence products will certainly have a negative impact on a limited household budget.”
The program started as a pilot with 10 organizations within our Food Bank network of partners in mid-winter of 2021 and has grown rapidly since then. There are currently 55 sites across our six-county area that have diapers available for clients, including 48 pantries.
Nearly 260,000 diapers – all for babies – were distributed in 2021. In 2022, about 394,400 childrens’ diapers were supplemented by 17,600 adult incontinence products – 412,000 distributed for the year.
Preliminary results from the Diaper Bank initiative show that pantries implementing the program are more than doubling the number of children ages 0-4 being served.
“The growth illustrates the need”, Sarah says, “particularly among our underserved populations.”
“One of our region’s underserved populations are families with young children,” she adds. “Seniors are identified as underserved in Schuyler and Broome Counties. Seniors on fixed incomes are considered an at-risk population, especially senior women.” It’s a significant expense for both.
According to the National Diaper Bank Network, baby diapers can run $70-80 per month, or about $900 a year, and adult incontinence products can cost $80-160 a month, or nearly $1,200 a year.
Sourcing and delivering diapers to organizations such as Tompkins Community Action allows our partners to distribute to a wide range of families in need.
Glenda Abbey, Program Compliance Leader at Tompkins Community Action, is the coordinator for their food pantry that participates in the diaper program. Glenda states that through their online ordering system, families can easily call and schedule appointments to receive what they need.
Both adults and families with children benefit greatly from this program, where they can access two weeks’ worth of diapers every other week. Diapers are also offered in their Head Start program – and if parents also need them for home, they’re able to provide help.
“We also provide food for supportive housing next door, and some of the residents need diapers as well for their little ones,” Glenda says, “so we box diapers up with the food we deliver to them.” – Glenda Abbey, Program Compliance Leader, Tompkins Community Action.
In addition to families with children, Glenda loves to hear feedback from the seniors and adults who benefit from this program.
She was recently able to provide urgent help for a very appreciative daughter whose mother’s order of incontinence products was delayed through insurance. The ladies were immediately able to pick up an order while the issue was being resolved. They were both very grateful not to have to worry about the financial strain they would have to face in the interim.
In addition to providing for their local community, Tompkins Community Action reaches out to other outside agencies to help as many people as possible. “When we have more to offer,” Glenda states, “we give them to whoever needs them.”
Providing abundant assistance for an often-overlooked need in the community is the backbone of the Food Bank’s Diaper Bank program – and working with agencies such as Tompkins Community Action allows the Food Bank to expand its outreach so that no family in need is left behind.
You can read this and other stories from around the Southern Tier in our quarterly newsletter, The Harvester, on our website.