Closing Cincinnati's diaper gap with Sweet Cheeks Diaper Bank
Over a year ago I read an article about a diaper bank out West and thought to myself, “That’s great! But…why does a diaper bank even exist?” At the time, I didn’t realize that food stamps, WIC and Medicaid do not cover diapers. And the more I poked around, the more I understood the realities of what diaper need actually means for babies and families. I learned that when there isn’t money for diapers, babies may be left in the same one for 24 hours at a time. I learned that diapers are scraped out and reused, bleached, and stuffed with paper towels, which leads to serious infections. I learned that parents can’t go to school or work because most daycares require at least a week’s supply of diapers at a time. And I learned that the number one cause of maternal depression is diaper need.I started Sweet Cheeks Diaper Bank to help fill the diaper gap in the Greater Cincinnati Area, where we have a childhood poverty rate of 44% and more than 16,000 children without a sufficient supply of diapers to stay clean, dry, and healthy. We work through partner agencies to provide free diapers as part of an overall plan to give families a hand up out of poverty.We have fundraising events each month where the community can join us to help fuel our efforts, and this fall we’ll be kicking off our first Diaper Dash at Washington Park. It will be a fun morning connecting with our city and shedding light on the real epidemic of diaper need while we dash around the civic lawn. We also spend many hours wrapping thousands of diapers into bundles that are size-matched for each client, and we love to have new people sign up to help.
Sweet Cheeks Diaper Bank is growing exponentially as we add new partner agencies and clients each month. We hope to find a centrally-located permanent warehouse home in the coming months so that we can put even more clean diapers onto the sweet little cheeks in our city.To find info on our next event or learn how to donate diapers, time, or cash, visit our website at www.sweetcheeksdiaperbanks.org or our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/sweetcheeksdiaperscincy or contact Sweet Cheeks founder Megan Fisher at megan@sweetcheeksdiaperbanks.org.