ACS Diaper Bank Making a Difference in Tri-Cities

By: Autumn Dunzweiler

UCC communications coordinator

The Tri-Cities Diaper Bank has been making a difference in their community since 2011. This program, run through Adventist Community Services is a Washington State non-profit organization. They are the first diaper bank in the area and the first ACS, Seventh-day Adventist Diaper Bank in the country.

For many families, government assistance programs and food stamps don’t allow families to purchase diapers. Many daycare facilities require parents to provide disposable diapers to attend. “With a lack of diapers, it can force desperate parents to choose between leaving babies in soiled diapers for extended periods or to try to wash and reuse disposable diapers,” shares Renèe Martin, program director for the Tri-Cities Diaper Bank.

The Tri-Cities Diaper Bank works with local social services, community partners, and faith-based organizations to meet this unmet need in their community. Run solely by volunteers, the Tri-Cities Diaper Bank has distributed more than three million diapers, 300,000 annually, to more than 1,200 children in the Tri-City area in Washington.

A note from one of Tri-Cities Diaper Bank’s community partners, the Catholic Family Charities, shares, “We are most grateful to the Diaper Bank and the Seventh-day Adventist Church…you, our brothers, and sisters in Christ have brought so much for years to struggling families, it’s our responsibility and privilege to give back to a church that has been a beacon of hope for so many. You have been instrumental in meeting our mission ‘Motivated by Christ, We Bring Hope to Life to Those Most in Need’ each day for so many, for more than a decade.”

During the summer of 2012, the senior pastor of the Richland Adventist Church, Eric W. Shadle, set out, “to raise community awareness that diapers are ‘basic human needs’ like food and shelter, and that these needs are not being met for children living in poverty.” As stated in the mission it continues, “To advocate for policy reform so that diapers will be included in the definition of and provision for the ‘basic human needs’ of families.”

“He was so touched by this need, that he used his Sabbatical time to ride his bicycle all the way across America to raise awareness of local diaper needs and to raise funds for our diaper bank,” says Martin. “He also spoke with people on Capitol Hill about the need for diapers to be considered a ‘basic human need.’”

Over the years, the ACS Tri-Cities Diaper Bank has been making a difference in their community and will continue to make a difference in the future. For more information visit, www.tricitiesdiaperbank.org.