Galesburg diaper bank gets COVID cash infusion
Loving Bottoms among agencies receiving aid from Illinois COVID-19 Response Fund
Lee Ann Porter says she hopes to distribute half a million diapers in the coming months thanks in part to a grant provided to the Loving Bottoms diaper bank. (One Illinois/Zachary Sigelko)
By Ted Cox
A Galesburg diaper bank is among the dozens of nonprofits across the state getting aid from a coronavirus relief fund organized by the governor along with the United Way of Illinois and the Alliance of Illinois Community Foundations.
Lee Ann Porter, founder and executive director of the Loving Bottoms Diaper Bank, announced late Thursday that it has received a $150,000 grant from the Illinois COVID-19 Response Fund, a new charity umbrella group announced by Gov. Pritzker last month. As intended, the grant comes at a time when demand is up for diaper banks in the Galesburg area and across the state, in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, while Loving Bottoms faces diminished means of amassing them to distribute, as with diaper drives.
“Requests for diapers from organizations and individuals across the region keep coming in,” Porter said in a statement accompanying a news release on the grant. “It is hard to keep up with demand, we have seen our major source of diapers (diaper drives and donation locations) stopped or closed due to COVID-19.
“The ICRF grant will allow us to take what we are already doing in the community and amplify it,” she added. “Our goal is to distribute over half a million diapers in the coming months. That will go a long way toward ensuring all babies have clean dry diapers. The ICRF funds will help to support the network of 20 partner agencies that Loving Bottoms already supports. In addition, the diaper bank will be holding drive-through diaper distributions across the region.”
Directly and through its partner agencies, Loving Bottoms distributes diapers in Knox, Warren, Mercer, Peoria, Henry, Stark, Fulton, Tazewell, Henderson, and Rock Island counties. “Before COVID-19, 1-in-3 families struggled to provide enough diapers to keep their children clean, dry, and healthy,” Porter said. “On a normal month, our program distributes over 18,000 diapers to more than 360 children and families. We have been a reliable resource for the community since our founding in 2015.”
According to Porter, demand for free diapers has “skyrocketed” across the country. Programs such as food stamps don’t normally pay for diapers and supplies like wipes, and while there have been efforts to ease those restrictions in the midst of the coronavirus economic downturn, families with limited funds are still subject to hoarding and empty store shelves, just as with toilet paper. Meanwhile, according to the Loving Bottoms release, “loss of jobs and shelter-in-place orders have forced more families to turn to nonprofit diaper banks, depleting available supplies.”
Penny Pritzker announces formation of the Illinois COVID-19 Response Fund a month ago, joined by Illinois Department of Human Services Secretary Grace Hou and Gov. Pritzker. (Illinois Information Service)
The governor announced formation of the Illinois COVID-19 Response Fund a month ago, headed by his older sister, former U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker. At its formation, it had already raised almost $23 million, including $2 million from the governor and his wife, M.K., and another $2 million from his foundation.
Illinois Department of Human Services Secretary Grace Hou said it would complement her agency and help “fill the gaps” in the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, as local nonprofits can move “more quickly and more directly” to get funding where it needs to go.
According to the group’s website, it has now distributed $10.5 million in two rounds of grants to nonprofits statewide. Among the dozens of groups receiving the money, as many conventional fundraising methods run dry in the economic downturn, are the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Aunt Martha’s Health & Wellness, Housing Action Illinois, the Midwest Food Bank, One Hope United, the Shawnee Health Service, the Poshard Foundation for Abused Children, the Salvation Army of Illinois, and the Diaper Bank of Northern Illinois.
The Loving Bottoms website also has a separate page listing distribution sites and times during the coronavirus stay-at-home order. Those interested in donating directly can do so through the website or send a check to Loving Bottoms Diaper Bank, 3021 W. Main St., Galesburg, IL 61401.