This blog and web site is designed to help raise money for the New Haven Diaper Bank - I'm doing a service learning project called "Dimes and Dollars for Diapers" and my goal is to raise as much money as possible.
Here are some of the facts of why I'm doing this project:
- Safety net programs, like Food Stamps and WIC, which are supposed to provide poor children with basic necessities do not cover diapers.
- An adequate supply of diapers can cost over $100/monthly
- Infants need up to 12 diapers a day; toddlers about 8 diapers a day. In low-income households babies may spend the whole day or longer in a single diaper.
- Cloth is not an option for most poor people. Most childcare centers require parents to provide disposable diapers. Furthermore, most people living in poverty do not have easy, affordable access to washing facilities.
- Parents who are working or in school cannot take advantage of free or subsidized childcare if they cannot afford to leave disposable diapers at the childcare centers.
- Inadequate diaper changing increases the risk of numerous health problems from skin diseases to hepatitis.
- A baby crying non-stop from being in a soiled diaper for a prolonged time is at greater risk of abuse.
