Agencies launch county diaper bank

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Updated: February 26, 2012 8:04AM

A group of local agencies have launched the new Diaper Bank Partnership of Lake County.

The program is an extension of the St. Paul Diaper Bank Partnership started in 2009 in McHenry County by The Rev. Jim Swarthout, former rector of St. Paul Episcopal Church in McHenry. Swarthout now serves as the secretary for the National Diaper Bank and is the executive director of the Samaritan Interfaith Counseling Center of the Northwest Suburbs.

Swarthout said he began organizing a diaper bank after an individual came into the food pantry of his church. While the person was getting food, Swarthout held the baby and noticed the baby needed to be changed.

He told the woman and she said her family could only afford two diapers a day, so she had to clean out the diaper and put it back on the baby. Swarthout began doing research and came across a diaper bank in New Haven, Conn., which he used to start the bank in McHenry County.

“The idea of a diaper bank is to support a person in need during a difficult time,” Swarthout said.

Chaplain Sam Martinez of Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Lake Barrington, also congregational coordinator and Hispanic liaison, said the need for diapers in Lake County was brought to attention by the community.

The coalition includes social service agencies and churches in Wauconda, Barrington, Ela and Cuba townships. They will host diaper drives and fund-raisers throughout Lake County to stock the bank. Diapers will be stored in an empty warehouse at The Nut and Candy House, next door to the Wauconda Township offices.

“Today in our nation, one in three moms struggle with diaper need,” said Rev. Fred Rajan, vice president of the office for mission and spiritual care at the hospital. “Lake County is no exception... Having a diaper bank in Lake County will serve an important health need in our community.

“A diaper bank not only helps someone in need of diapers, getting involved in a diaper bank also transforms our life,” he added.

Diapers will be supplied to the diaper bank through individual donations, diaper drives held at local organizations such as hospitals, school and YMCAs and from large organizations, like Huggies and their Every Little Bottom campaign. The diapers will not be distributed directly to individuals in need, but through local social service agencies.

Martinez said 2,000 babies are born in poverty every day in the United States and babies use an average of 360 diapers a month. She added that food stamps, Link cards, WIC program and public aid do not cover the cost of diapers. The expense of adult diapers, needed by many seniors, also are not reimbursable through insurance or Medicare.

Any Lake County resident has access to the diaper bank and can contact any social service agency to get help. While the bank has started by social service agencies in Wauconda, Barrington, Cuba and Ela townships, Martinez said the coalition that created it plans to expand throughout the county.