Capital Diaper Bank

In my line of work, particularly in J and DR court, I am surrounded by sad, extreme poverty every day.

I am really proud that my friend, Andrea, is working to solve a problem faced by a lot of low-income families: not enough diapers. It's not something that's at the forefront of awareness in the community.

Here's more about it from Andrea:

I am sure by now most of you have heard me go on and on about the Diaper Bank we have been trying to establish in Richmond. The need is so immense and yet amazingly hidden! Unreal that neither food stamps, WIC, Medicaid or most diaper manufacturers can help you get free or discounted diapers if you are in need and living below the poverty line! We have all, I am sure, had some encounter with the scare of staph infections, and yet imagine how fast they can happen on a raw baby's bottom which has been living in the same diaper for a weekend or longer?!


There is good news!! Richmond now has its very own, established 501(c)3 diaper bank: Capital Diaper Bank! And we were very generously given a portion of the largesse of a nationwide Huggies diaper drive in December (their first ever!), so our bank now has over 200,000 diapers! Hilldrup Storage is an incredible partners of ours, donating free container truck space, helping us with inventory, forklifting and picking up at diaper drives for us.


Momentum is gaining as Owens&Minor is funding a PSA on our behalf during February on Channel 6. However, we still have zero dollars and no online presence as we have been busy managing all of the start-up issues and finding diapers and recruiting member agencies. We would love to have a logo and website up and running by Feb 1, even if only a very rudimentary one, so that the PSA can direct people to a site to donate or help.


I am asking everyone I can think of if they know of anyone who might be able to assist? We are thinking of using Community Spice and designing our own, very basic website as time is of the essence, but a workable logo is key too. If you had any thoughts, I'd love to hear them.


If anyone is interested in learning more about Capital Diaper Bank, I would love to introduce you to Capital Childcare and the diaper bank as I think it is one of the most extraordinary initiatives I have yet been involved with and I think you would be very excited about what is happening.


As a shameless fundraiser, if anyone has extra Christmas cash lying around, please don't hesitate to think of us and the poor at-risk children we serve! :)


Many many thanks for listening to my soapbox spiel and any ideas you can share with me.

If you've got ideas, email me at amonroe@hotmail.com or leave a comment.

GO ANDREA!!!!