BOCA RATON, Fla. — Busloads of diapers were collected and given out to families in need Saturday morning.
For the ninth annual diaper drive, the Diaper Bank Covering South Florida gave away 85,000 diapers to 15 nonprofits across Palm Beach County.
"The need is very great," Dre Garcia, president of the Diaper Bank Covering South Florida, said. “The reason for the diaper bank is that one in two families cannot afford diapers.”
Since it began in 2011, the Diaper Bank has contributed six million diapers to struggling families.
"By us providing the diapers for these families, it helps them to really give the opportunity for every child to shine, for every child to have a chance in life,” Garcia said. “And that’s why we do what we do."
One of its biggest donors is the Boca West Children’s Foundation. This year, they beat their record and collected more than 300,000 diapers for the drive.
"Our mantra is that if babies don’t have diapers, the parents can’t take them to day care,” Richard Zenker, chairman of the Boca West Children’s Foundation, said. “If the parents can’t take them to day care, then at least one parent has to take off from work. If a parent takes off from work, they jeopardize their employment. And if they jeopardize their employment, the cycle of poverty continues.”
Studies show infants and toddlers who remain in soiled diapers for too long are at risk of urinary tract and skin infections.
No state or federal child safety-net program allocates dollars specifically for the purchase of diapers, according to the National Diaper Bank Network, It also states the Supplemental Nutrition Supplement Program, or SNAP and also known as food stamps, does not cover diapers.