We Never Thought We’d Have to Choose Between Food or Diapers

It’s a pretty typical scene: a young child in a family with two working parents. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but of course, things can always change … and change is often abrupt.

“My husband had to find a new job and my hours were cut all in the same week,” the mother wrote to us. “We knew we were counting down the days until our last disposable diaper, so I went to a local thrift store and found 2 cloth diapers. There were in pretty bad shape so we have been dealing with soaked clothes every couple hours.”

When the diapers weren’t through the wash in time, she said they’ve found other innovative ways to get by, such as wrapping a kitchen towel around a cloth prefold.

Thankfully, this family found out about our Individual Aid program launched in late 2018. We provide cloth diapers on loan, with the expectation of the family using them as long as they need to and then returning them. We then sanitize them, repair them, and pass them along to another family. In December, we sent 124 diapers to 5 children of families in need; in January, we sent 220 cloth diapers to 13 children of families in need.

“We never thought that we would have to choose between food or diapers, but we did,” she wrote. “I find comfort knowing that Jake’s Diaper’s box is on its way to rescue me from this awful last two weeks of diapering.”

As a bonus, she told us she’s at least happy this experience opened her to the world of cloth diapering … something they hadn’t considered when everything was typical just weeks before.

Help U.S. Families: It’s because of wonderful supporters like you that we’re able to make this individual impact. A donation of $16 solves diaper need for moms and babies using this newly established individual aid program, and we need your help to be able to serve the applications that keep coming in.

Are you in need? Check out our application form here.