National Diaper Need Awareness Week may have just wrapped up, but there's still a growing number of requests for help.
More families are seeking out assistance as inflation drives the price up diapers up.
That's according to LeeAnn Porter. She is the executive director and founder of the Loving Bottoms Diaper Bank in Galesburg. The organization serves 12 Illinois counties, including Peoria and Tazewell. The organization functions kind of like a food bank.
"We're just seeing the need go up and up," Porter said. "We're distributing currently about 55,000 diapers a month, which helps around 1,200 babies every month in that region. And we have a wait list of agencies that are working with families we're not serving."
She said about one in three families experienced diaper needs when Loving Bottoms first started up in 2015. Today, Porter says it's closer to one in every two, adding diapers can set a family back about a $100 a month.
"If you're working full time, but maybe making minimum wage, it can get really tight really quick because there's just not enough to go around," she said.
A recent donation of 200,000 diapers from Huggies will help immensely, but the transport fees will still run about $7,000. Porter said Loving Bottoms typically receives one donated shipment a year, so this second unexpected donation is not in the budget, but not unwelcome.
"If you like math, that's approximately 3 cents a diaper. So it's a pretty amazing deal. And this truck is a lot of the sizes that we really need — the four, fives and sixes. So we're excited for that," she said.
Loving Bottoms also supplies feminine hygiene products, wipes, and incontinence supplies to those in need.
The Loving Bottoms warehouse is located at 77 S. Henderson St. in Galesburg. Porter said volunteers and donations are always welcome.
