Still need to think of a gift?
Support a Holyoke child or children with diapers in your loved one’s honor
Today until Saturday only – make a recurring donation in an increment of $5, and receive a card and sticker to gift to someone.
Every $5 donated monthly supports one child with diapers. $25 supports five children, etc.
We are aiming to raise $1000 in new recurring donations by Jan 1st. This will allow us to keep up with the drastic increase in demand for diapers recently.
How our diaper bank works
Since we started our mobile diaper distribution in 2021, we have provided Holyoke residents with a consistent and reliable way to get assistance with diapers. We take diapers from our storage space (pre-packaged by our amazing volunteers in packs of 20) and park ourselves right in front of Margaret’s Pantry in South Holyoke every 2nd and 4th Monday, during their grocery distribution. We serve typically serve 30-50 families at each distribution. Our recipients found out about our diaper distribution by getting grocery assistance at Margaret’s Pantry or by word of mouth. Many of our recipients are housed in nearby shelters, and most have more than one small child. Our only requirement for signing up is that recipients live in Holyoke.
Each distribution, we give 20 diapers to families with one child in diapers and 40 diapers to families with two or more. This means that if families come to both our bi-monthly distributions they can receive 40-80 diapers a month depending on family size. While this won’t cover families needs completely, it is an amount that makes a tangible difference in their lives, allowing them to stretch their limited incomes. (The one other dependable source of free diapers in Holyoke gives away 10 diapers per month, for perspective).
We don’t do diaper drives because we have found that if we get money, we can use it more efficiently, and be in control of which sizes we stock in our inventory. Since demand has been soaring, we need more money on a consistent basis to be able to keep providing diapers for families.
We started this because we believe that families should not have to choose between diapers and food, and because more frequent diaper changes means increased financial independence for parents and increased health for the whole community.