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Diaper Demand Increases Pressure on CNY Diaper Bank The CNY Diaper Bank Needs Donations As Demand Increases

The need for diapers is often overlooked compared to other essentials.

By Allison Turner

Quincy Stockton: A lot of people who don’t have children that need diapers don’t necessarily understand what a need it really is and what a burden it can be on families.

Allison Turner: Families can spend upwards of 100 dollars or more per month on diapers, and they aren’t covered by assistance programs. But that’s where the Central New York Diaper Bank comes in.

Julianne Pease: We’re able to be that staple in the community that is able to provide families and children with clean free diapers, and so that enables the families to, you know, grow themselves, save money, have a job, put their child in childcare.

Turner: The diaper bank doubled their distribution to two million diapers in 2020 to help as many families as possible.They were doing well, until earlier this year, when they were hit with supply shortages and fewer donations.

Pease: So we had to put an ordering limit on that for all of our partners so that we could sustainly provide a minimum amount to all of our partners so they could still provide a certain amount of children with those diapers.

Turner: The diaper bank has seen an increase in the amount of families that need help with diapers, but they say two things will help: more donations and spreading awareness.

Stockton: You know I have a lot of people that say ‘oh we didn’t even know there was a diaper bank’, you know that try to bring me diapers as donations.

Turner: Stockton says the best way to let people know about the diaper bank is through word of mouth.

Stockton: The families saying ‘hey, that guy has free diapers, and you can get em once a month, you know, fifty of em’ has really boosted the community awareness.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – The Central New York Diaper Bank needs diapers and advertising  help after they saw a large increase in demand due to the pandemic and increase in diaper prices.

The diaper bank said families can spend upwards of $100 per month on diapers, and that cost is not covered by assistance programs like SNAP or WIC. The bank’s goal is to provide relief for families in the central New York area, so that everyone can have diapers for their children.

“We’re able to be that staple in the community that is able to provide families and children with clean, free diapers, and so that enable the families to, you know, grow themselves, save money, have a job, put their child in childcare,” CNY Diaper Bank Program Manager Julianne Pease said.

The diaper bank doubled their distribution in 2020 to meet the growing demand, but that only worked for a short time. They faced supply shortages and a decrease in monetary and diaper donations at the start of this year, causing them to cap their distribution numbers and limit distribution to once a month.

“So we had to put an ordering limit on that for all of our partners so that we could sustainly provide a minimum amount to all our partners so they could still provide a certain amount of children with those diapers,” Pease said.

The limit did not last long, but even after it, the diaper bank is still low on donations and funding. Pease and one of the bank’s Distribution Partners, Quincy Stockton, said the best ways to meet demand would be to receive more donations and spread the word about the diaper bank and their mission. The diaper bank has been open for five years, but it is not well-known in central New York area.

Purple donation bin outside of a building.
The bin outside the CNY Diaper Bank where people can drop off diaper donations.
© 2021 Allison Turner

“You know I have a lot of people that say ‘oh we didn’t even know there was a diaper bank’ that try to bring me diapers as donations,” Stockton said.

Stockton distributes diapers from the diaper bank to families at the Westside Food Center. He said his numbers quadrupled since the start of the pandemic, and it’s partly because of word of mouth.

“The families saying ‘hey, that guy has free diapers, and you can get em once a month, you know, fifty of em’ has really boosted community awareness,” Stockton said.

Even with that, there is still a need for more diapers and monetary donations. Anyone can donate money or diapers to the diaper bank, and families that need diapers are able to receive them once a month.

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