Meet the Milwaukee women raising money for National Diaper Need Awareness Week

Milwaukee Diaper Mission and Motherhood for Good work to collect donations for National Diaper Need Awareness week.

The Milwaukee Diaper Mission and Motherhood for Good are working to collect monetary and physical diaper donations for National Diaper Need Awareness week. The fundraiser runs from now through  Sept. 21.

This is the fifth year for the fundraiser, titled “The Big Give Back.” Motherhood for Good has a donation goal of $1,000, while the Milwaukee Diaper Mission’s goal is to raise $50,000. Nuna Baby will match all the donations to double the total amount of money raised.

Kate Duffy, founder of Motherhood for Good, explained the importance of the initiative. One out of two US families cannot afford diapers, and one in four parents miss work or school because they cannot afford diapers.

“When I heard that one in two families report struggling to be able to afford diapers, that really hit home for me,” Duffy said. “And it wasn’t just like, they’re too expensive. People are having to not buy as many groceries or push back payments on their utility bill in order to buy diapers.”

Meagan Johnson, founder and executive director of the Milwaukee Diaper Mission, shared a similar sentiment. She explained this year in particular, due to historic flooding in Wisconsin, community members are especially struggling.

“In a year when regionally here we’ve had historic flooding, which has affected many households in our neighborhoods, people are really struggling,” Johnson said. “We see that in the families that we serve and also in the families that have supported us in the past. They maybe don’t have the means to give this year, and so we’re asking our community to come together, and those who have not heard about us before to step in and really help us fill those gaps.”

Johnson and Duffy explained after becoming parents themselves, they recognized the expense of diapers in addition to other basic necessities. On average, diapers cost families about $100 per month per child, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. By understanding the needs of community members, both Johnson and Duffy worked to create a solution.

“I got this new sense of empathy when I became a parent for all other parents, because at the end of the day, no matter what anybody believes, we all just want to protect our kids and be there for them,” Duffy said. “Diapers are a basic need, and when I hear about parents not being able to afford that, it just breaks my heart.”

The Milwaukee Diaper Mission was founded by Johnson in 2020, after she learned Milwaukee was one of the few major cities without a diaper bank. The organization is a member of the National Diaper Bank Network, a national nonprofit that hosts an annual National Diaper Need Awareness week where nonprofits work to receive donations to distribute diapers to community members.

Over the past five years, the Milwaukee Diaper Mission has distributed 3.4 million diapers to community members.

“We talk a lot about what sort of stress and anxiety diaper need can cause for caregivers,” Johnson said. “If you think about a mom at a grocery store and she has diapers and period supplies and groceries in her cart, and she doesn’t have enough money for all of those items and doesn’t get paid till Friday, she has a serious choice to make in that moment about what she purchases and what she brings home to her family.”

Duffy and Johnson emphasized the importance of the initiative, explaining how parents should not face hardships when accessing basic necessities.

“I think this is actually the perfect thing to fundraise for, where we can help other moms and women and ultimately, kids all across the state,” Duffy said.

While donations are accepted year round, National Diaper Need Awareness week ends on Sept. 21. From now until then, those who donate to Motherhood for Good directly will be entered into a drawing to receive a piece of merchandise, and those who donate to the Milwaukee Diaper Mission will be entered into a drawing for a signed Giannis Antenakoumpo jersey. Find a local drop spot here.