CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It’s a dream that has blossomed into reality in over a decade.
“If you had told me when I started the Diaper Bank from my kitchen table with a little laundry basket full of diapers that it would become what it has become with multiple warehouses, millions of diapers, and I drive a forklift, I would’ve said, 'absolutely no way,'” Michelle Schaefer-Old told WCNC Charlotte's Nick Sturdivant.
Schaefer-Old runs the Diaper Bank of North Carolina.
Since she founded the nonprofit, Diaper Bank of NC has distributed more than 23 million diapers statewide. It also provides free baby formula and menstrual products.
“We see babies left in one diaper a day, families rinsing out and reusing diapers and parents making tough decisions,” Schaefer-Old said.
Right now, there are branches across the state, including in Charlotte. The Charlotte warehouse opened its doors a couple of years ago and now houses about 800,000 items.
“It’s not something I was super familiar with before, Avery Payne, director of the Charlotte branch said. "If you were to ask me at 18 if I'd be talking about male incontinence and periods, I would not have believed you, but it’s great and it opened my mind.
He says the biggest hurdle the organization faces is making sure people know they’re here to help.
“In terms of Charlotte, not too many people know that we are here. Not many people know about the work that we do,” Payne stated. “We distributed almost 400,000 diapers last year, that was only 4% of the need last year in Mecklenburg County.”
According to the Diaper Bank of NC, one in three adults don’t have enough money to buy period products.
“76% of the families that receive our services are working 1 to 3 jobs and still can’t afford hygiene items. This is about working families,” Schaefer-Old explained.
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