Our team spent the day at the Greater DC Diaper Bank diaper warehouse sorting and packaging diapers for their 40+ partner organizations who distribute diapers to families in need.
Signal Group is proud to support the Greater DC Diaper Bank to alleviate diaper need in the District. We held a drive and collected nearly 7,000 diapers to help families in the DC metro area. In addition, our team spent the day at their diaper warehouse sorting and packaging diapers for their 40+ partner organizations who distribute diapers to families in need.
Why Diapers?
The challenges of parenting in poverty are significant, given that 1 in 3 families in the DC metro area struggle to pay for diapers. Satisfaction of basic needs, including having a supply of diapers, is critical to early childhood development and health. In fact, low income families spend nearly 14 percent of their after-tax income on diapers, while middle income families spend less than 3 percent, as reported by The Washington Post.
Many of the District’s underserved communities are “diaper deserts.” Parents in these communities don’t have access to major retailers where they are able to purchase diapers in bulk. They must pay wholesale price for diapers which quickly adds up. Given that babies use as many as 20 diapers a day, the costs become a heavy burden for families already struggling to make ends meet.
In short, diaper need furthers the cycle of poverty. Childcare facilities often require that parents provide a supply of diapers for the week. Many parents cannot go to work or school if they are unable to buy large supplies of diapers and leave their babies at childcare. To make matters worse, diapers cannot be obtained through federal and state assistance programs so there is no safety net.
Signal Group partnered with the Greater DC Diaper Bank because of their reach and impact in the community. This amazing organization distributes an average of 175,000 diapers to 4,000 families each month in Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia. The Signal Group looks forward to hosting future drives to support their new programs collecting women’s hygiene and baby care supplies.
Diaper Duty: The Signal team donated over 6,000 diapers and packaged and sorted over 50,000 to go to local families in the DC metro area.