Help families in need during Annual Diaper Day
A baby in need– deserves a diaper, indeed. And YOU can help!
Sharon Pierce, President and CEO, The Villages of Indiana, tells us more:
• The Villages is a statewide organization and we have a great team working in the Evansville area.
• We serve over 3,100 children and families each day.
• Our team acts as Champions for Children. We work closely with the Indiana Department of Child Services to find and license foster families… many who adopt children.
• Our team leads several family and children programs focused on giving children bright futures.
• We provide teams for the Healthy Families Indiana program that enhances positive parent-child interaction for new parents expecting a baby. Families receive support services until their child is 5 years old.
• We also have a Kinship Care program designed to support family members who are either parenting the second time around—grandparents taking care of grandchildren—or siblings who’ve agreed to parent a younger brother or sister.
• Among our statewide families, nearly 1,100 of the children are in need of diapers.
• Depending on the brand, a family may spend about $90 per month on diapers for a baby or toddler, according to the National Diaper Bank.
• Government support programs typically do not assist with the purchase of diapers.
• Our client families stretch every dollar for basic necessities and often have to make tough choices every day. This is especially true in these unprecedented times of COVID-19.
• Our annual Diaper Day eases a family’s financial stress by giving them one less worry and one more happy baby.
How can Hoosiers help these families in need?
• One in three families reporting not having sufficient funds to have a supply of diapers to keep their child clean, dry and healthy, according to the Indiana Diaper Bank.
• On Friday, Sept. 25 Hoosiers are invited to make online diaper donations using Amazon.
• We keep in really easy. For anyone who wants to help and makes a diaper donation on Amazon, diapers are delivered directly to The Villages’ Indianapolis office for statewide distribution to foster families and participants of The Villages Healthy Families program.
• This year Managed Health Services (MHS), an Indiana managed care entity that has been serving the state for twenty-five years and a great partner of The Villages, will match up to $3,600 or about 144 packs of donated diapers, so the impact of each donation will be even greater.
• That means anyone who makes a donation will have MHS match it.
- On Friday, Sept. 25, go to The Villages’ Amazon Wish Lists page and select your donation. At check out, click on The Villages of Indianapolis Gift Registry Address.
To receive an acknowledgement for tax purposes, send the receipt to KCottingham@villages.org, as Amazon does not provide organizations a private donor’s information. - Diapers purchased for donation through Amazon will be delivered to The Villages’ office and distributed to client families across the state.
- Encourage others to get involved by posting about your donation or sharing our Diaper Day posts on Facebook or Twitter, using the hashtag #VillagesDiaperDay.
• Donations from other online retailers will be gratefully accepted.
• Due to COVID-19, The Villages is unable to accept in-person donation deliveries at this time.
• To coordinate a donation for our families using another online retailer, go to www.VillagesKids.org then click on Contact to find the nearest Villages’ office and address to ship to.
To learn more, visit villageskids.org/diaperday.