In partnership with the Allied Foundation Diaper Bank, Help Me Grow – Long Island will donate 100,800 diapers to provide immediate relief for Long Island families struggling to afford diapers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The diapers are secured through a proprietary diaper program at the National Diaper Bank Network and will be distributed to families in need, free of charge through select Help Me Grow – Long Island partner agencies and Long Island Cares, the Harry Chapin Food Bank. Diaper costs are supported by a grant from The JPB Foundation. This opportunity was made available by the Help Me Grow National Center to Help Me Grow – Long Island, an initiative overseen by Docs for Tots.
The diapers will be disseminated, along with baby books and developmental promotion materials, through the following agencies, which work directly with young children who would benefit from this distribution and together serve a wide range of Long Island’s families:
Baby Essentials of Long Island
Choice for All
Long Island Head Start
Parent Child + (Nassau BOCES)
Setalcott Nation
Shinnecock Nation.
Our Why: Diapers are a basic need, no baby should have to go without.
COVID-19, sudden unemployment for low-income families and hoarding of diapers by those who can afford them resulted in dire diaper need across Long Island.
One in three U.S. families lack enough diapers to keep a baby clean, dry and healthy.
No federal or child-safety net program allocates dollars specifically for the purchase of diapers.
Diapers can cost $80 per month per baby.
Babies require 6-10 diaper changes a day, a concern for families who struggle with diaper need.
Diaper need causes families to resort to unsafe practices including reusing diapers and leaving them on for longer periods of time which makes babies susceptible to rashes and infection, leading to poor health outcomes.
*statistics provided by the National Diaper Bank Network
Collaboration of Multiple Organizations to End Diaper Need:
Service within our communities and collaboration is at the forefront of everything we do and those we are fortunate to help. Our partnership will ensure that families have access to diapers, an essential need to keep their babies clean, dry and healthy. We are proud to work together to ensure their basic needs are met and foster a healthy start to life.
Docs for Tots brings together children’s doctors and communities to promote practices, policies and investments in children prenatal to age five that foster their healthy development and future success. We create a better future for New York by focusing on these strategies: continuous quality improvement, implementation of evidence- based programs, coordination across systems, data informed decision making, enhancing existing capacity.
Help Me Grow – Long Island is organized by Docs for Tots and since 2018 has supported healthy development, improved connections and family well-being for children prenatally through age 5. The approach is one of collective action where existing community organizations’ strengths are built upon while creating a stronger support system for Long Island’s youngest.
Formed in 2017 to end diaper need and a member of the National Diaper Bank Network since 2018, the Allied Foundation Diaper Bank has distributed more than 170,000 diapers to families in need across Long Island, the 5 Boroughs of NYC, Westchester, Rockland and Orange counties.
Founded by the late Harry Chapin, Long Island Cares brings together all available resources for the benefit of the hungry and food insecure on Long Island and, to the best of our ability, provides for the humanitarian needs of our community. Our goals are to improve food security for families, sponsor programs that help families achieve self-sufficiency, and educate the general public about the causes and consequences of hunger on Long Island. Our vision is “A Hunger Free Long Island.”
Milestones to Remember 2023 is the 20th anniversary year of the founding of Docs for Tots. We will be highlighting a milestone each month . . . Read More
What happens during the first months and years of life sets either a sturdy or a fragile stage for what follows.
