One morning in early September, Emily Rodriguez met representatives from Family Service of Greater Baton Rouge and helped load diapers into their cars.
They were the last agency to pick up an order from the Junior League of Baton Rouge Diaper Bank, where Rodriguez serves as chair. A total of 136,000 diapers were distributed in one weeks time to 22 area agencies to help families in need.
When it comes to poverty, diapers are not what pops up first in people's minds, but the diaper conundrum is a hidden consequence of poverty. The reality is nearly 1 in 2 families in the U.S. struggle to afford diapers for their children, according to the National Diaper Bank Network. Medicaid covers one-third of all births in the U.S., but government programs don’t cover diapers.
Children who stay in dirty diapers have an increased chance of painful diaper rash, viral illnesses and urinary tract infections.
Most child care centers, even free and subsidized facilities, require a day’s supply of disposable diapers. When babies are at day care, they are in a learning environment while mom and dad can go to work.
The Junior League of Baton Rouge Diaper Bank has been addressing the community diaper need since it was founded in 2015. Last year, the bank provided 550,000 diapers to 26 agencies.
Shelita Smith, left, Blossom (a Diaper Bank partner agency) executive director and Junior League member, and Emily Rodriguez organize a new batch of diaper donations at the Diaper Bank warehouse on Government Street.
“We know that since 2021-2022, we’ve distributed well over 1.6 million diapers in our community,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez and her co-chairs, Laura Burridge and Missy Korduner, recently kicked off the new volunteer year with a 43-member committee in August to organize workers who will be collecting, processing and distributing diapers to community agencies over the next few months.
Many of the Junior League volunteers are young mothers themselves, including Rodriguez, who has two diaper-aged children.
“I’m a parent who has been fortunate enough to afford diapers, but it’s still a struggle. Diapers are expensive. I can’t imagine how hard it is for someone to have to miss work because they can’t afford a basic need for their child,” she said.
The Diaper Bank warehouse is located on Government Street in Baton Rouge, and Junior League members, when needed, have been joined by community volunteers, such as Scouts troops, high school groups, college organizations and corporate volunteers to help process diapers.
Emily Rodriguez, left, Junior League of Baton Rouge Diaper Bank chairman, and Tamara McKee, Diaper Bank committee member, prepare bundles of 25 diapers each for distribution to 22 local agencies to help families in need.
“We take open packages as donations, because we open all new packages and process them,” Rodriguez said. “It’s estimated a family who has a diaper-aged child runs short about 25 diapers a week, so we put 25 in each package count."?
The bank’s annual budget of $40,000 takes care of supplies and warehouse rent, so outside help of diaper donations or financial donations to the Amazon wish list is crucial in helping to make up the difference each year.
The Diaper Bank is funded in large part by the group’s fundraisers like Hollydays, "River Road Recipes" cookbooks and Touch a Truck — but the organization is part of the National Diaper Bank Network, a system of independently operating diaper banks and pantries that collect and distribute more than 30 million diapers for children experiencing diaper need.
In Louisiana, almost 30% of Women Infant Children (WIC) recipients are infants, and 15% of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients are under the age of 5.
Although the focus on the Junior League's diaper bank is children, on occasion they have been able to assist with adult diaper needs, depending on availability. The Woman’s Center for Wellness hosts permanent barrels that often receive donations of adult diapers.
There are multiple permanent diaper bank barrel locations where packages of diapers can be dropped off for collection by the volunteers:
- Junior League of Baton Rouge office, 9523 Fenway Ave.
- The Baton Rouge Clinic, 7373 Perkins Road and 12351 Industriplex Blvd.
- McMains Children’s Development Center, 1805 College Drive
- Olly-Olly, 4225 Perkins Road
- Woman’s Center for Wellness, 9637 Jefferson Highway
- The Little Gym, 5735 Essen Lane
- Pediatric Therapy Solutions, 37278 Market Place Drive, Prairieville
- Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Health Pediatrics, 4242 La. 19, Zachary
“Last year, we saw a big drop in overall donations; we think it was because there was no natural disaster and that usually triggers donations,” Rodriguez explained.
Diaper drives can also be organized at various workplaces, schools or churches by contacting diaperbank@juniorleaguebr.org. The Junior League will provide a kit to help an organization get started.
Volunteer Nicole George-Picou?stands among the boxes of diaper bundles ready for distribution. George-Picou was the 2023-'24 Diaper Bank chair and is the 2024-'25 community project coordinator.
After the first of three annual distributions, Rodriguez said, the diaper bank now faces a shortfall, and she worries about providing enough diapers for the next distribution.
“The other day, we were only able to fulfill about 73% of the diapers requested and I am down to $15,000 left in our budget,” she said. “It’s stressful. It’s like running a small business."
Only this business’s goal is making sure babies in the community have the essentials they need to stay clean, dry and healthy.