One in three U.S. families struggles to provide enough diapers to keep a baby or toddler clean, dry, and healthy, so the Junior League of Fort Worth is doing something good to help.
The ladies are collecting diapers in support of National Diaper Need Awareness Week. The effort started last weekend with 42,000 diapers collected and distributed to 33 agencies in Tarrant County, so far. The league says that's the largest number of requesting agencies to date.
From now through Sunday, the league is asking the community to donate diapers or money to buy diapers.
The Junior League opened a diaper bank two years ago. Last year, the diaper bank distributed nearly 400,000 diapers to local agencies.
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The JLFW Diaper Bank works in partnership with Tarrant Area Food Bank to help Fort Worth nonprofit agencies meet a current need and address poverty with compassion. As a member of the National Diaper Bank Network, JLFW Diaper Bank obtains diapers through direct wholesale purchases and community diaper donations, to close the diaper need gap in the community.
In a news release, the Junior League says Tarrant County is the 15th largest county in the United States, with a population of over 2 million people, an estimated 11% of which fall below the poverty line. JLFW Diaper Bank aims to target those with diaper needs of all sizes, with an acute focus on families with children under the age of 5 that are below the poverty line. There are an estimated 26,000 children under the age of 5 and 17,000 families with children under the age of 5 in Tarrant County living below the poverty level (ACS 2020). The National Diaper Bank Network estimates that the average household in need falls short by 19 diapers per month. This estimates the total annual diaper shortfall of Tarrant County at nearly 4 million diapers.
For more information and to learn how to support the JLFW Diaper Bank, go here or contact the JLFW
Diaper Bank at diaperbank@juniorleaguefw.org. The league's Amazon Wishlist is here. Find the JLFW Diaper Donation Page here.
