The Loving Bottoms Diaper Bank is turning three this week, and you might say it’s growing up.
The bank, founded by LeeAnn Porter, is turning three and helping to mark “Diaper Need Awareness Week” by seeking even more donations of adult and baby diapers and feminine hygiene products.
Porter tells WGIL if that’s not an idea of how Loving Bottoms has expanded in just three years, maybe this is.
“We just thought it was going to be Galesburg, Knox County; now we’re five counties,” says Porter. “We get calls every week from neighboring counties that we don’t serve, even calls from all around the state. I just did not imagine it was going to be like this when we started.”
Porter says having a diaper bank just wasn’t something a lot of other social service agencies provided, and diapers aren’t necessarily covered by public assistance. Porter tells WGIL most of that expansion is thanks to simply spreading the word.
“Our partners with the Regional Office of Education through the Prenatal to Three program — with those, they have the parent educators that are meeting with the families a couple times a month, so they get really in the trenches with the families. Those families are getting diapers month-to-month.”
The diaper bank has already distributed more diapers this year than all of last year, and to as many as 275 babies a month. Donations of money and diapers are always welcome, Porter says, and help is usually need packaging the diapers for distribution. CLICK HERE to find out more information, and to contact Loving Bottoms.
