“My 14 year old client has a 5 month old baby. Her mother, also a single mom, supports her, her older sister and the baby. She makes $240 a week and diapers are a big expense. So when the diaper bank so kindly donates diapers my client and her mother are so happy because that means they are able to buy meat and papayas and a few mangoes instead of diapers. Thank you for helping our very vulnerable moms!” Maria S. MSN,RN, Nurse Home Visitor
Dear friends,
We wanted to take some time to reach out and thank you for your continued support and share some updates on our progress. First of all, even though this has been a time of uncertainty and fear, it has also been one where we have humbly witnessed incredible kindness and generosity and grace.
In the month of March, we distributed 15,653 diapers to families in need. While the majority (13,900) were distributed at Food for Others, we were also able to provide a supply to The Fairfax County Visiting Nurses as well the Annandale HS food pantry so young moms working hard to stay in school can keep their babies diapered.
April blew us away! We were able to distribute 24,870 diapers at Food for Others, which is serving over 900 families each week. We were also able to contribute over 4,000 diapers to “Women Giving Back" for their weekly drive-through events, which are serving hundreds of cars each Saturday morning. As you can see, demand has surged during this time of crisis and we are working hard to keep up!
This was possible because of:
* Multiple generous cash donations from friends, neighbors, and other community members who believe in what we are doing. This cash enabled us to purchase diapers in bulk –the FedEx deliveryman has become a friend!
*Cycle Chi offering free classes in exchange for donations to us!
*Social4Good sending out a plea for help yielding boxes of donated diapers!
*Boxes of of diapers donated because babies grew out of a size or "my husband bought the wrong size"
*Friends and neighbors packaging and transporting diapers!
AND….
We have received a grant for $5,000 from the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia's Covid Relief Fund! https://www.cfnova.org/news-and-stories/impact-stories/round-two-covid19-grants
This will help us continue to provide diapers to our clients, as we have had to purchase thousands to keep up!
When we launched Fairfax Diapers last June, we were taking a leap of faith. We hoped that we would be able to serve those in need and share this venture with our community and we have not been disappointed…we have been overwhelmed by the support and encouragement from all of you! We encourage you to check in with us via our Facebook page @FairfaxDiapers.
Please know that we are ever grateful for your support and kindness and generosity. We could not do any of this without you. We hope that you all stay safe and well!
Sincerely,
Christine, Susan, Christine, Teresa, Rachel
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