[C]hittenden County’s first diaper bank officially opened Thursday in a South Burlington warehouse — a big step up from the garage where the Junior League of Champlain Valley first started its operation in 2017.
Seventh Generation recently donated 46,000 diapers to the cause, spurring the volunteer organization to set up a permanent diaper bank. The Junior League chapter christened the facility in style, with a crowded room of enthusiastic women and a borrowed pair of oversized scissors.
The bank will distribute about 100,000 free diapers annually to five Chittenden County food shelves.
Food stamps cannot be used to buy diapers, which makes the need for this kind of program all the more important, according to Amanda Herzberger, chair of the Junior League of Champlain Valley Diaper Bank.
“Imagine having to choose between diapering and feeding your child,” Herzberger said. “Imagine not being able to go to work or school because you don’t have diapers to send with your child to daycare or an early education program. Imagine you can’t afford to buy the six to 10 diapers that your child needs in a day, so you are unable to change them as often as they need.”
She said this is the reality for the one in three U.S. families impacted by diaper need. Diapering a child costs between $80 and $100 a month, so when those costs become too high, many families are forced to leave their children in the same diapers for far too long. Herzberger noted that no federal or state program currently allocates money specifically for the purchase of diapers.
“All families deserve to be able to diaper their child,” Herzberger said. “And the diaper bank is trying our best to see that that happens.”
Reps. Maida Townshend and John Killacky, both of South Burlington, Sen. Debbie Ingraham of Williston, and a representative from Sen. Bernie Sanders’ office attended the event to show their support for the cause.
The next step, Herzberger said, is state-level advocacy. She is going to Washington, D.C., at the end of the month for National Diaper Bank Network’s lobbying day — she said she hopes to bring ideas from other statehouses that are looking at bills addressing diaper need back to Vermont.
Anna McMahon of Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf said at her organization, which serves around 11,000 people, with over half of those households including children, diapers are one of the most in-demand things they distribute.
“Every single day people come in requesting diapers, so there’s definitely a demand,” McMahon said. “We hear a lot of stories from our clients, people who are having to choose between paying rent and utilities, medications, all sorts of things, as well as having families to provide for and infants. So anything we can do to alleviate that need is incredibly helpful.”
The Junior League of the Champlain Valley encouraged donations of money, time, and, of course, diapers (with size 3 and 4 in particular demand) that can be made at a variety of locations throughout the community.
“I believe that we have the solutions and the resources at our disposal,” said Joe Giallanella of Seventh Generation. “And though we hear about need, and we may not feel like we have what we need today to meet those needs, it begins with systems, it begins with programs and it begins policies, and I believe this is a step in the right direction to making sure we’re utilizing the resources that our community does have at its disposal to meet the needs that we have.”
