Community

The Riversider | August/September 2021

The Junior League of Riverside Diaper Bank WORDS: SOFIA MILLA PHOTOS: ZACH CORDNER

(L to R): Junior League of Riverside's Finance Director Mandy Hyde, Community Team Member Angela Brown, and President Danielle Miller.

Riverside’s strong sense of community is what makes this city so amazing to many of us. There are many groups and individuals who put in time and energy for the betterment of the community. One organization who has been making Riverside a better place for over 90 years is the Junior League of Riverside. It’s a non-profit organization made up of a hardworking team of women who remain dedicated to making a difference by providing aid to women and children. The organization’s main project is a diaper bank, supporting low-income families by providing free diapers and baby wipes. Why diapers? It’s because one-in-three families across the nation experience a lack of diapers, and many welfare programs—like the WIC and food stamps— don’t cover them. A lack of diapers creates health risks for infants such as rashes and urinary tract infections. The Junior League is committed to ensuring that no infant will ever have to face diaper-related health risks, and no mother will have to choose between paying for rent and groceries or paying for diapers ever again. Before becoming a community distribution event once a month, the diaper bank began as a small-scale project four years ago. The Junior League became members of the National Diaper bank network, receiving access to diaper wholesalers like Huggies and Cuties, as well as working with community partners to distribute diapers. “We started looking for places to give the diapers away and discovered there was a huge need right here in the community,” said Mandy Hyde, Junior league Finance Director, and a proud member for twelve years. During the government shut down of early 2019, many families struggled financially. In response to this, the Junior League organized their first community distribution day, allowing any family facing financial hardship to register and receive free diapers in bundles of 55 diapers per child under five years old. The first distribution day brought a huge turnout—making it clear the need for diapers was greater than expected. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, the number of families in need of diapers only grew. So in order to serve more families, they’ve moved locations to a larger space where they’re currently servicing over 300 families by distributing around 16,000 to 18,000 diapers per month with the help of multiple community partners, such as The National Charity League. The Junior League is providing more than just diapers alone—the amazing women of Riverside Junior League are also providing emotional support and creating friendships. “We’ve had families coming for as long as we’ve been doing it,” said Hyde. “We’ve grown really close to families and seen their kids grow up.” The ultimate goal here is to provide aid to the community until their work is no longer needed. “We are trying to work ourselves out of a project.” said Hyde.

If you or a loved one are in need of diapers, please visit DiaperbankIE.org to register, or you can got to Juniorleagueriverside.org to donate.

The Junior League of Riverside Diaper Bank 1860 Chicago Avenue G2 (951) 683-4088