CNY Diaper Bank offers free diapers to families in need across Central New York.
AUDIO TRANSCRIPT: CNY Diaper Bank helps families in need receive free diapers
Madiou Bah: Local families are struggling to afford diapers here in Central New York. NCC’s Madiou Bah has more about what the diaper bank is doing to help tackle this problem.
Bah: Poverty continues to be a significant issue in Central New York. CNY Diaper Bank founder and director, Michaela Hugo, explains how families are forced to make tough decisions when it comes to spending.
Michaela Hugo: Wic benefits and Snap benefits don’t cover the cost. And, you know, families are choosing between purchasing food or purchasing diapers.
Bah: Hugo started the diaper bank drive to support families in need.
Hugo: I decided that it was the right thing to do to start it, and I thought it could help fill this gap. We started small with six partners, and now we have about 50 partners. We distribute 180,000 to 200,000 diapers every single month.
Bah: I’m Madiou Bah, NCC News.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — For many families in Central New York, the cost of diapers continues to rise due to inflation, making it difficult for low-income families to afford them. With the average cost of diapers hovering around $70 a month, many families can’t afford to pay for diapers since they have other bills to tend to such as rent, food, water and electricity.
Michaela Hugo, founder and director of the CNY Diaper Bank, said the child poverty rate reflects this issue.
“The child poverty rate kind of says it all. I mean, we have almost one in two children living in the city of Syracuse who are living under the poverty line, and that’s not including families that are hovering near it. So there are so many families who struggle with providing basic needs.”
The CNY Diaper Bank’s mission is to help low-income families by distributing diapers monthly, giving them some relief so they can focus on other bills.
“We know that there are long-term impacts for children who grow up in poverty. And diapers are just one of those big expenses that we can help a little bit with. It frees up their limited funds to purchase the other things that they need,” Hugo said.
Through the efforts of the CNY Diaper Bank, they have partnered with numerous organizations that share their vision of helping families in need.
“The CNY Diaper Bank is the only source of diapers in this community. And the way we do it is we partner with other existing programs that are already working with families in a variety of ways. So, for example, Catholic Charities, local food pantries, and we work with Upstate Pediatric and Adolescent Center, which is a clinic where children go for their well-child visits. If a family is experiencing diaper needs, they can receive diapers at those well-child visits,” Hugo said.
Through these partnerships, the CNY Diaper Bank distributes around 180,000 to 200,000 diapers monthly and over 2 million diapers annually.
The CNY Diaper Bank continues to be a vital resource for families, but they still need community support to meet the increasing demand for diapers.
“If you care about the future of our community, if you care about the babies in our community, and the moms and dads who are struggling, a real way to make an impact is by supporting the diaper bank and supporting what we do to make sure that babies have what they need to thrive,” Hugo said.
To learn how you can contribute to making a difference in a family’s life, visit the CNY Diaper Bank’s website at www.cnydiaperbank.org/donate or participate in an upcoming donation drive. Together, we can ensure that no child goes without a clean diaper.