With a successful first-time diaper distribution in Clairton behind them, Global Links and the Western Pennsylvania Diaper Bank will return to McKeesport this Saturday to help more families.
The drive-up diaper distribution event will take place from 9 to 11 a.m. at McKeesport Area Senior High School. This will be the third time the two organizations have worked together there to provide a one-month supply to parents and guardians.
Families and caregivers of young children will again line up by vehicle to choose up to two different sizes of diapers. Sizes 1 to 6 will be available, according to a Global Links news release.
The increasing expense of diapers has affected households across all income levels, with 66% of families categorized as low income, 28% as middle income and 6% as high income, according to a National Diaper Bank Network Check in 2024 cited in the release about the event. Infants use eight to 12 diapers per day, and a toddler uses six to eight diapers per day.
The two nonprofits came to Clairton last month because of the need there, Global Links Executive Director Angela Garcia said. The diaper bank already has a presence in the city and provides diapers to the Clairton Family Center for distribution. That Saturday Garcia said they served 230 households.
That is no surprise to Family Foundations Early Head Start parent engagement specialist Donella Lynette Smith. Clairton is one of the centers she works with in her position. Others are located throughout Allegheny County, including the North Side, Hill District, East End, Triboro and McKees Rocks.
She wrote in an email that “we service pregnant mothers and children from birth to age 3, and I can attest that this need is a growing concern not just here but throughout the county and beyond. … Due to the rising cost of essential needs such formula, diapers and clothing, it is hard for many of our families to keep up with, and there is high demand for, diapers. The cost for these items should be lowered because it is an essential need, just like feminine products for women.”
Garcia said most people don’t realize SNAP recipients cannot use those benefits to cover diaper purchases. The parent, grandparents, aunts and uncles who came to the Clairton event – including one who traveled to it from Monaca, Beaver County – were grateful.
The event itself was new to Clairton residents, and Garcia said the nonprofits appreciated the promotion for it that came from Mayor Rich Lattanzi and community groups such as Clairton Cares. “We saw it all over social media, and they were getting it on local media channels,” she added. “They were getting it out into their community because it was very new to them.”
The Clairton distribution was also the first time the nonprofits attempted one in the summer, as they avoided scheduling it then because of people either working more or heading out on vacation. But she said she found Clairton “felt like a very tight community, and the event was very uplifting. Some people stopped to ask what we were doing. It was all new to them.”
The location in the Clairton Pool parking lot helped, too, with cross-traffic heading to a Little League tournament and just the sight of the event prompting lots of questions from people just driving by. “We saw people come back and tell us, ‘I just talked to my neighbor. Can I get some for them?’ Some people came by as we were packing up and said the mayor told them about it. We pulled some diapers from the truck for them.”
The Global Links executive director and diaper bank co-founder and executive director Cathy Battle met at a Jefferson Regional Foundation Community Collaborative. They started the distribution events during the pandemic, and this will be the 10th large-scale distribution since 2020. Last fall’s McKeesport event served 423 households from 76 ZIP codes.
“The first time [in McKeesport] we were blown away. We did not anticipate the crowd, the lines,” Garcia said. “We were prepared the second time. It went very smoothly, [with] no traffic backups.”
The nonprofits prepared to serve 500 to 600 McKeesport-area households through two years of experience. The lineup of vehicles works well, she said. She has one caution: “Children do not need to be in the car! It’s a safety factor. And it’s way too hot,” Garcia stressed.
She and Battle know the need for diaper assistance has not gone away. Diaper costs increased 25% over the past two years, Battle said in the release. The NDBN Diaper Check 2024 found that 46.7% of U.S. families with young children struggle to afford diapers, and 1 in 4 parents miss work or school because they can’t afford the diapers needed for child care, leading to financial and professional consequences.
“No one should have to choose between buying diapers or buying food. As always, the need is much greater than the supply,” she said in the release.
Garcia added in the release, “Families who are struggling financially make tough choices, but not being able to adequately diaper their baby should not be one of them.
Jefferson Regional Foundation is sponsoring Saturday’s McKeesport distribution. For right now Garcia said this will be the final one for the year. “We don’t have funding lined up to hold any more,” she explained. “But if someone wants to be a corporate funder, we will work and make it happen.”
And that might just happen. With the media attention from the Clairton event, two other communities and funders from different counties approached the nonprofits about holding similar events.
Garcia sees the diaper distribution events as a temporary offer of help, a little assistance. And they have a secondary effect.
“It helps to educate the community as well about how much diapers cost. [We’re telling them] SNAP doesn’t cover it. We did not realize this five years ago. We’ve held the distributions from the Hill District to the North Side to Hazelwood to Clairton. We know there is a need.”
McKeesport Area High School is located at 1960 Eden Park Blvd., McKeesport. The event will be held rain or shine. For additional information, visit www.wpadiaperbank.org or https://globallinks.org/news/6-21-free-drive-up-diaper-distribution/.
Helen is a copy editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but she's currently on strike. Contact her at hfallon@unionprogress.com.