Half a million diapers donated for Tucson babies in need

The Diaper Bank of Southern Arizona received 500,000 diapers at their warehouse in Tucson on Tuesday.

According to a media release from the agency, the donation was part of a grant from the National Diaper Network.

The diapers will be distributed to needy families through the organization’s 53 partner agencies, according to the release.

The Diaper Bank of Southern Arizona distributed more than one million free diapers to 13,241 families in 2016, the release stated.

Nearly all of the families served by the non-profit live below the poverty line in neighborhoods throughout Tucson, according to the release. Their children are among the more than 134,000 infants and toddlers living in poor and low-income families throughout Arizona.

“According to calculations by the National Diaper Bank Network, infants and toddlers wear, at minimum, an average of 50 diapers per week,” said Alison Weir, NDBN’s chief of policy, research and analysis.

According to the release, an industry survey found that parents in need of diapers reported running short of about 11 to 12 diapers each week.

Diapers are as essential to a child’s well-being as food and shelter, the release stated. Without an adequate supply of diapers, children are at increased risk of severe diaper dermatitis, skin breakdown, and infection.