Four palettes of diapers were delivered to Bundled Blessings on Wednesday afternoon for distribution to Evanston families.
Bundled Blessings, a diaper pantry at First United Methodist Church, collects donations of diapers as well as cash to purchase them. The diapers are then distributed through local social service agencies to families who cannot afford them.
Through the National Diaper Bank Network the agency was able to purchase diapers in bulk. The church doesn’t have a loading dock, so Northwestern University allowed the use of its loading dock to accept the delivery.
Volunteer Sue Hagedorn moves diapers from the loading dock to the rental truck.
Eight volunteers then transferred the diapers to a rental truck for the last leg of the journey to a new storage annex for the diaper pantry at the church.
Founded in 2013, the organization currently distributes 15,000 diapers per month to over 300 children through nine local service agencies, says Sue Hagedorn, a volunteer with the pantry.
About half of the diapers they need are collected through barrels placed throughout the city. The other half are purchased through cash donations, which allow them to purchase the sizes they need.
The group expects to receive bulk shipments of diapers three or four times per year.