Archives for September 2011

The Great Start Collaborative of Ottawa County is focused on the healthy development of infants and young children. They know how important the first three years in an infant and toddlers early brain and social development are, and how it is significantly impacted by the early relationships the child shares with parents and caregivers.

It is because of this that the Great Start Collaborative and Ottawa County Parent Coalition have coordinated the Dump Truck Diaper Drive in an effort to fill a dump truck with diapers that will support Nestlings mission of providing diapers to families in need. The Dump Truck Diaper Drive is one concrete and effective way to help ensure that all babies in our community grow and thrive.

The dump truck, provided by Denny’s Excavating of West Olive, will be on Main Street in Zeeland during the Pumpkinfest activities on Saturday, October 8. Can YOU help us fill the truck? Your participation will help ensure that babies start life healthy
and ready to learn. Donate purchased packages of diapers or new, unused diapers left over from potty training or size changes (the greatest need is for diaper sizes 4, 5, & 6).

Get on the road to helping us support the ongoing diaper need. One child goes through a truckload during the diaper years.

Nestlings receives diaper orders from local nonprofit agencies who have applied to partner with us. After becoming an approved agency partner we provide an order form so they can simply request from us the quantities and sizes of diapers most needed by the families they currently serve.

When Nestlings began distributing diapers to our agency partners earlier this summer we weren’t sure which sizes would be most requested or most needed but after delivering thousands of diapers in recent weeks we have found – similar to other diaper banks around the country – that the most commonly requested items are size 4 diapers, size 5 diapers, and size 6 diapers. We have found this information helpful so that we can watch for diaper deals on these sizes of diapers and wanted to share these statistics so that those who support us by purchasing diapers and donating diapers might also be aware of the fact that while ALL diaper sizes are needed and appreciated the ones we have distributed the most of so far are sizes 4, 5, and 6.

In fact there is currently a critical need for sizes 4, 5, and 6 so please consider making a donation of $50, $500, or even just $5 so that we can purchase the much needed sizes to fullfil agency orders as soon as possible. You can donate securely through Paypal using the button you see on the right side of the page.

Thank you for your consideration and for sharing this page with your friends who might like to be a part of helping every baby have a clean diaper.

How many diapers will Nestlings need in order to support the Holland area agencies that have partnered with us?

Nestlings is the first diaper bank in West Michigan so the statistics about the total number of diapers needed by local nonprofit partners is still being collected but in the course of just 7 days we got an idea of things to come.

Within one week Nestlings distributed over 1,200 diapers at no cost to these 3 local agencies who have partnered with us to diaper babies in need.

• Holland Rescue Mission Stepping Stones Daycare
• Center for Women in Transition
• Providence Church – a Good Samaritan Ministries Care Closet location

Above: 900 diapers counted and piled up as they were prepared to deliver to local nonprofit agencies.

The diaper orders submited to us by these local nonprofit organizations were filled with the supply of diapers currently stored in the living room of one of our board members – diapers that we are able to purchase thanks to online donations and diapers dropped off to our local diaper donation locations.

The ongoing success of Nestlings is a community effort.

Make a donation online of any amount or drop off packages of diapers to one of our diaper donation locations so that Nestlings can continue to provide a reliable and adequate supply of diapers to local nonprofit agencies who meet the needs of low-income children and families in Holland, Michigan.

How will Michigan nonprofits support about 30,000 children after state budget changes?

Nestlings was started based on the knowledge that West Michigan children living in poverty had a need for diapers. There are no state or federal programs available to help low income families get diapers and wipes.

Soon the need will be even greater when about 41,000 people will lose their cash assistance payments as a result of legislation changes to the state budget beginning on October 1. About 30,000 are children, as reported by local news WZZM13.

Nestlings, a local nonprofit organization, will experience an increased demand for diapers since, as WZZM13 reported, the welfare benefits coming to an end were often used by families with small children to pay for diapers.

Wondering how you can help?

Check out our website for a list of ways the local community can support our mission to diaper babies in need.

Follow our Facebook page for additional updates.