What If It Was You?

Your baby starts to cry. His little face turns red, tears in his eyes, as his little lungs give voice to his discomfort. He's not hungry, he's not tired, he has a dirty diaper. Your heart sinks as you try to do your best for your child, so you comfort him and resignedly clean out and reuse the soiled diaper. Crazy? Yes, but a sad reality for many. In fact, a study conducted by HUGGIES® which surveyed over 2,000 parents found that 1 in 20 American moms that are struggling with diaper need have cleaned out and reused wet or soiled disposable diapers. The study also found that 1 in 3 American moms have been faced with the dilemma of choosing between diapers and other basic necessities like food. Most moms want the world for their children. Can you imagine if you couldn’t even provide the most basic of needs for your child?

In response to these troubling findings, HUGGIES® started Every Little Bottom which looks to address diaper need in the U.S. by collecting donated diapers and getting them to babies in need by working side-by-side with community partners which serve as diaper banks, but they need our help. What can we do? Visit HUGGIES® Get Involved page to enter your zip code and search for diaper banks to donate to in your area, you can search for local diaper drive events, or you can host your own diaper drive, which is what I plan to do. In addition to getting the word out for this worthy cause on this humble blog, I'm also going to organize a small diaper drive in my office. HUGGIES® has made getting started extra easy, by providing on their site most of the files I might need, including drive posters, drop signs, drive flyers, etc.

As with most things, together we can make a greater difference, and hopefully help more moms and babies. I plan to reach out to my family, friends and co-workers this week, and hopefully report back soon on a hugely successful diaper drive. I hope you will do the same.

*Update: I ended up reaching out to just friends for the diaper drive, in order to avoid the red-tape involved in an office-wide drive at work. Obviously, this small drive won't solve the problems for all, but just like a small pebble tossed in a pond, the ripples from this small contribution can still make a significant difference in one person's life.