primitives discuss banking baby diapers

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=230x4523

Man, the primitives on Skins's island are so wrought up over decent and civilized people using their rights granted under the First Amendment, the island's getting boring.

I thought this about diapers would be a welcome change from all the other repress 'em, oppress 'em, kill 'em nonsense of the primitives.

question everything  (1000+ posts)        Thu Aug-06-09 10:13 PM
Original message
 
TIME: Starting a Diaper Bank

I went over older issues of magazines and found this TIME story from last April. Even if posted then, worth taking another look.

==========

It's often the little things that change your life. For Joanne Goldblum, it was toilet paper. As a social worker in Connecticut, she kept noticing that the families she worked with didn't have any. Eventually a client told her that TP isn't covered by food stamps or any other government-assistance program, so people just improvise. (Fast-food napkins, anyone?) In fact, no hygiene supplies are covered--including diapers.

"I saw a mother take a diaper off, empty the solids and put it back on," says Goldblum. Not having enough diapers, she realized, has far-reaching effects. "Most day-care centers require parents to provide their own," she says. And without day care, parents can't look for work or go to school. Cloth diapers don't help, because low-income families tend not to have washing machines or cars to get to the Laundromat. Moreover, she knew that babies who sit longer in their own waste get more diaper rashes and cry more. And she'd read the studies showing that more crying leads to more physical abuse.

This is how Goldblum came, five years ago, to start the Diaper Bank (a name, she notes, that sounds less comical--and is easier to raise funds for--than the Toilet Paper Bank). These days, she gives away 200,000 diapers a month in Connecticut, mostly to public-housing authorities, tenants' groups and agencies that work with low-income families.

For the first three years, she drove the diapers around herself and learned to use a pallet jack; today she has two full-time employees and buys 250,000 diapers at a time straight from a manufacturer. She has yet to find any makers who will give them to her free. Goldblum, who works on the project full time but does not draw a salary, has talked to some 50 people about starting diaper banks. "We know of six who have taken the next step," she says.

She advises them to start small. But her dreams are getting bigger. Because children with dirty clothes and bodies have a tough time at school, she'd like to see laundry machines and showers there. She'd like federal assistance programs to start covering some hygiene items. And she'd like the average citizen to realize how hard it is for people to function at the poverty line. Failing that, she'll settle for free diapers.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,189173...

texastoast  (1000+ posts)        Thu Aug-06-09 10:21 PM
Response to Original message
 
3. Is there a cloth diaper bank? I spent about $150 (in today's money) on cloth diapers for my first-born plus laundry detergent and water and electric bills. I worked hard washing them, but 250,000 in the landfill--I just can't do that with a good heart.

Chemisse  (422 posts)        Thu Aug-06-09 10:27 PM
Response to Original message
 
4. That's very nice of her

But as a mother who used cloth diapers about 80 percent of the time while raising my children, I don't have a lot of sympathy for poor people who insist on spending tons of money on disposable diapers.

I was dirt poor in the early years and did not have a washer or dryer for a number of years. When I couldn't afford the laundromat I hand washed them in a tub. I even had a little washboard (no, I am not ancient; it was very retro even then).

As things got a little easier for me, I would often splurge on disposable diapers and use them for times when I had to use day care.

I was frugal with other products too. I always had toilet paper, but never Kleenex. I never bought paper towels, and cut up old towels for rags (I still prefer the rags).

[The Village Idiot]

today she has two full-time employees and buys 250,000 diapers at a time straight from a manufacturer. She has yet to find any makers who will give them to her free.

Well, why do you suppose they don't just give away their products? What could possibly be the reason for that? These companies actually expect to be paid for their products, the %$#@! lol.

If this woman decided to find a way to make a profit then she would not have to worry about finding diapers.

Why is this called a 'diper bank'? Can I put in a thousand diapers and it earns interest?

[AllosaursRus]

Now I've heard everything! A little clue, if you can't afford diapers, you can't afford a child! Keep your legs closed or your zipper zipped!!!!!!!!!!!! Asshats!

[Chris]

Why is this called a 'diper bank'? Can I put in a thousand diapers and it earns interest?

Yes, but you only get more diapers in return.

[LC EFA]

...
Cloth diapers don't help, because low-income families tend not to have washing machines or cars to get to the Laundromat.
...

Oh Boo freaking hoo. Ever heard of a thing called a bucket ?

Worked fine for washing diapers back when I was messing in them.

Of course that requires some physical effort and dirtying of the hands. Can't expect those poor low-income folks to do that now can we. 

[DumbAss Tanker]

Yes, but you only get more diapers in return.

So, you're saying it doesn't earn shit in that bank?

[Chris]

That reminds me of a story I saw yesterday...

Cuba Loo Shock: Toilet Paper 'Running Low'

Cubans experiencing hard times because of dismal economic conditions have one more thing to worry about - toilet paper supplies.

The country's supplies are running low and new deliveries are not expected until the end of the year, a state-run company said.

The prices of 24 essential goods have been slashed to help residents during the financial crisis - but officials deny there is a shortage.

However the demand for toilet paper is "presenting problems", according to an official with state conglomerate Cimex.

"The corporation has taken all the steps so that at the end of the year there will be an important importation of toilet paper," the official told state-run radio.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Cuba-Running-Low-Of-Toilet-Paper-Loo-Supplies-Not-Due-Until-End-Of-Year/Article/200908115356662?lpos=World_News_Top_Stories_Header_4&lid=ARTICLE_15356662_Cuba_Running_Low_Of_Toilet_Paper%3A_Loo_Supplies_Not_Due_Until_End_Of_Year

[The Village Idiot]

That reminds me of a story I saw yesterday...

They have no incentive to produce more toilet paper

[kenth]

but 250,000 in the landfill--I just can't do that with a good heart.

Screw those kids, dirt is hurting!