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Diapers are deceptively expensive. Junior League of Stamford-Norwalk president Angelica Oxford estimates the package her group gives to needy families through the Diaper Co-Op would cost about $100 per month at the store. To a family already on government assistance, that can be huge.
"Diapers are not covered by WIC, or by food stamps, or really by anything else," Oxford said. "So these families that are receiving other social services still need financial assistance for diapers." The Junior League started the Diaper Co-Op in 2008 after it learned about a Diaper Bank in New Haven.
But because it covered only as far south as Bridgeport, the League realized there was a need for a similar program in its eight member towns: Stamford, Darien, New Canaan, Norwalk, Wilton, Weston, Westport and Ridgefield. So it made room in its Darien headquarters for dozens of cases of diapers. Then it contacted Person-to-Person, which started referring families in need to the co-op.
Oxford told of one family, a mother, father and baby, who were living in a single bedroom of a house because they could not afford rent anywhere else. In their year with the co-op, they were able to save enough to put a security deposit on an apartment of their own. In another case, a young mother was able to go back to school at nights because her mother no longer had to work two jobs to support the family and could stay home to baby-sit.
Right now the Junior League distributes nearly 6,000 diapers to 60 families referred by Person-to-Person or Malta House every two weeks. The League lets families receive regular donations for periods of one year, but has to limit them at that point so they don't overburden the supply. "We'd like to start helping families from the minute they need it to the minute they don't anymore," said Oxford. "But the constraint that we have is funding."
The Junior League runs fundraisers throughout the year to supply the Diaper Co-op and also receives donations from diaper drives sponsored by local businesses and community groups. To make a donation to the Diaper Co-op, or organize a diaper drive, visit the Junior League of Stamford-Norwalk's website.
