When we think about disaster recovery, we tend to think about hunger, homelessness, and clean water. Diapers are an overlooked, yet crucial, basic need. All babies deserve to be clean, dry, and healthy. Hurricanes Harvey and Irma have caused widespread flooding and severe damage in Texas and Florida. This fund will provide diapers at no cost to our partner agencies here in the United States, who are recovering and rebuilding.
Babies living in extreme poverty around the world have to choose between food & diapers. Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Harvey have compounded this situation. Our partner agency, The Rebecca Foundation, is working diligently to assist the most vulnerable children, and they struggle to find enough funding and supplies to help these babies. Imagine re-using a disposable diaper simply because you can't afford for your baby otherwise - that's a decision many of these families have made.
Just 24 cloth diapers can diaper a baby from infancy through potty-training, meaning these babies can finally have diapers, instead of going without. Through our Diaper Drops, we are helping local organizations leverage the funds they have available to better care for their babies in other ways. In many places, organizations see decreased infant mortality rates and increased quality of life through cleaner environments and more availability of basic living needs.
As our partner organizations in the United States continue to have their diaper needs solved, they are able to save funds and plan for future improvements as part of hurricane recovery and rebuilding. This can mean adding educational programs, offering better healthcare, improved quality of food (more protein!) - all steps that set these babies up for long term survival and productive members of society.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).