Did you know that at the food hamper program we have a fantastic program called The Cloth Diaper Bank? This program can loan a set of cloth diapers, covers, liners, and important cleaning instructions to families in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. This is a free program to families in low income situations. Many think that having to wash the cloth diapers several times a week will be more expensive, however; cloth diapers are still more economical. On average, it costs approximately $250 to wash cloth diapers over a child diapering period of 2.5 years, while disposable diapers cost approximately $2000 over the same length of time.
How does the program work?
Our program operates similar to a library; a person signs out a set of diapers and returns them when they are done. The set of cloth diapers must be clean and in good condition upon their return. Then staff will clean and disinfect them before making them available for loan to another family. Easy peasy!
How did we get started?
- The Cloth Diaper Bank was launched as a pilot project in 2001.
- Emergency Food Hampers received a grant from TD Friends of the Environment to get the program going.
- Several years ago we received a generous donation of new and gently used cloth diaper sets from a local business, which has allowed our program to continue into its 9th year.
- On average we have about eight to nine families using the program over the year.
Are there benefits to using cloth diapers?
Of course! One of the many benefits of our program is there is no start up cost to the family, since there is not the initial purchase of cloth diapers, liners, and covers. The average start up price for cloth diapers is around $400-600, dependent on what diapering system a family goes with. Along with the savings, there is less impact on landfill sites when using cloth diapers. Environment Canada has reported that more than 4 million disposable diapers are discarded in Canada each day. That is a lot of diapers!
What are people saying about the program?
We have received some great feedback from many participants who have used the Cloth Diaper Bank. One mother in particular has a newborn and signed out 20 small cloth diapers and three covers. In her feedback about the program she expressed that she saved approximately $500.00, for the four months the diapers were out on loan, which includes the initial start up fee and laundering. That is a tremendous savings! She said she would use the program again and let others know about it too. When the diapers were returned, she replaced one of the covers that was misplaced out of her own pocket, which is not expected of any participant who uses our program.
What sizes do you have and how can I find out more information?
We carry a range of sizes from size small to size large. Donations are always welcome of all sizes of new or gently used diapers, liners and covers. We could especially benefit from donations of newborn diapers and covers, and small covers. If you are interested in further information about the Cloth Diaper Bank please contact Michele, who would be happy to chat either by email (hampers @ houseoffriendship.org) or phone 519-742-0662, Monday to Friday, from 8:30am-4:00pm.
Tags: diaper bank, diapers, Emergency Food Hamper Program, how you can help, services
March 18, 2010 at 7:29 am |
I had no idea about this service – what a great idea! Thanks! We used cloth diapers with our first child and it wasn’t nearly as much work as we thought it would be. We found it very expensive when we used disposable diapers with our second child. We also noticed that our first child was much easier to toilet-train, which we suspect was partly owing to the use of cloth diapers.
March 21, 2010 at 5:17 am |
What a great idea to have a local resource for cloth diaper loans. I know Miracle Diapers does it nationwide but this is even better to save families the cost of shipping. Thanks for doing the great work!