Meet Mariah, Katelyn, and Chamika: Three moms, each with different stories, but one thing that connects them is the need for diapers for their baby. (Watch on Vimeo: Let Good Grow full cut).
SF Bay Area: Join Us at KidsBash, June 30th
We’re proud to be the official charity partner at the 3rd Annual Ghirardelli Square KidsBash. The event is a great opportunity to bring the kids, and extend an invite to your play group to join you for train rides, bounce house, face painting, and event special appearance by Hello Kitty.
Ghirardelli Square invites you and your family to join us for a Street Festival that is just for the kids! The 3rd Annual KidsBash, presented by Plum Organics has all of the perfect activities for every family’s youngest members. Tickets include access to all rides, games, and entertainment during the event and only need to be purchased for the children in your family, adults are free! The event is geared for children 10 years old and younger. Come for train rides, a rock wall, jump in the bounce house, play games with prizes, Zumbatomic demos, a special visit from the SFFD and much, much more.
This year, Ghirardelli Square KidsBash has partnered with Help A Mother Out, a Bay Area-based, nationally-recognized grassroots organization that raises and distributes diapers to homeless and low income families.
DISCOUNT: 25% discount for HAMO friends (tickets online are normally $20 per child, $15 with the HAMO discount (adults are free). Use CODE HAMO15 when registering through EventBrite.
CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS: We need 20 volunteers to help us with will call, ticket sales, children’s activities, and at the HAMO booth (two shifts available 10:30am – 1:30pm and 1:30pm-4:30pm).
Volunteer perks include: discounted special event parking, plus two (2) free event tickets for your kids, and you get to be part of the HAMO crew! Interested? Please fill out our volunteer form. We also love groups and volunteer buddies, so please help us spread the word.
Thank You Plum Organics
At our 2nd Annual Benefit Tea earlier this month, we were honored to have Plum Organics as a Tea Stand sponsor. Our guests loved the Plum Organics samples, and we donated the surplus sample boxes to some of the families we serve.
Thank you to everyone at Plum Organics for supporting our mission to get diapers to families in need.
photo courtesy of San Francisco Chronicle
@Momversation Contest & Diaper Drive
We were honored to have our friends and High Tea Presenting Sponsor Momversation attend our 2nd Annual Benefit Tea on May 6th. The Momversation crew came up from Santa Monica to enjoy the day with us and raise much needed funds to help us continue the work bring diapers to moms in need. We are so incredibly grateful to Momversation for helping us continue our work!
To celebrate their website re-launch they are hosting a sweepstakes for the Ultimate Time Out (Big prize is a spa getaway in San Francisco!) as well as a virtual diaper drive (Goal of 10K DIAPERS!) for Help a Mother Out.
Please watch this short video about the contest, enter to win, and spread the word.
Real Stories: Katelyn
We were recently honored to interview three inspiring moms whose lives were changed by the gift of diapers. This is Katelyn’s story:
One Less Worry
“Many times I had to choose between diapers and food. It’s very frustrating. Thanks to [having donated diapers], I have one less worry and I can help my daughter grow in a healthier way.”
With your help, moms like Lena can focus on being more self-sufficient. Please consider sending a message of hope to our families with your gift today. In doing so you’re joining the HAMO family, working to sustain a much needed safety net in the year to come. Thank you for your generosity and commitment to our families.
Stress Reliever
“My client was going through a rough patch where her income was suddenly not available. She was stressed out, and the one thing she mentioned would take some pressure off was getting diapers for her daughter. When I was able to provide her with them, she was greatly appreciative.
Most of our clients struggle financially, and unfortunately diapers are quite expensive—but also a daily need for their children. Being able to provide diapers to our clients helps them get through the financial burdens or crises they are experiencing.”
Your support lets us keep supplying diapers to case managers like Nancy. Please consider sending a message of hope to our families with your gift today. In doing so you’re joining the HAMO family, working to sustain a much needed safety net in the year to come. Thank you for your generosity and commitment to our families.
No Sale.
“I went without food for two days, and I had to pawn a necklace to buy diapers, because my daughter’s needs come first. Without Help a Mother Out, I would sell my belongings to buy diapers.”
With your help, moms like Maya can care for their kids without having to make choices like this. Please consider sending a message of hope to our families with your gift today. In doing so you’re joining the HAMO family, working to sustain a much needed safety net in the year to come. Thank you for your generosity and commitment to our families.
New Drop Bin Locations!
Just in time for our Mother’s Day Call To Action – we have two new drop bin locations in the Los Angeles area and one in the Bay Area. At all three locations they will now proudly accept your donations of diapers – in new unopened or opened packages – and wipes in our big old drop bin.
Los Angeles
Books and Cookies
2230 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90405
(424) 238-5752
http://booksandcookiesla.com/
—
Zookies
4510 Forman Avenue
Toluca Lake, CA
(818) 404-9185
Zookies on Facebook
—
Bay Area
Recess {Donate through May 31st}
470 Carolina Street
San Francisco, CA 94107
(415) 701-7529
http://recessurbanrecreation.com/Recess_Urban_Recreation/welcome.html
Here is a list of what we accept and all the other ways and places to help.
@MomsLA and @SpanglishBaby Twitter Chat April 18th 10am PST
We want to raise funds and raise awareness about diaper need this spring and need all the help we can get! Thanks to our friends @MomsLA and @SpanglishBaby for hosting a Twitter chat this coming Wednesday. Check out their post to RSVP to #MomsLAChat.
Hope to tweet you there
Mother’s Day Call to Action
Update 5/31/12: Thank you to everyone who joined our Mother’s Day campaign! Together with online donors and supporters who attended our 2nd Annual Benefit Tea, we reached our campaign goal. We are incredibly grateful to all of you who donated funds, hosted a fundraiser or diaper drive, or donated diapers through our wishlist or in person. We could not have done this without you and your community support never ceases to amaze us. From the bottom of our hearts, we are deeply thankful to each of you.
Mother’s Day 2012 may be over, but our work throughout the year continues! Our grassroots organization ALWAYS is in need help with fundraisers, drives, and other kinds of support. So please don’t be a stranger to us! Learn how to get involved and check back soon for fresh content!
~ Gratefully,
The HAMO Crew
Babies need diapers. Help a Mother Out This Mother’s Day – Sunday, May 13.
Our goal for the 2012 Mother’s Day Campaign is to raise $30,000 in online donations in order to accelerate our impact. We need your help during April and May. Take action and support the campaign for diapers:
- Donate in honor of a mom you love
- Start a fundraiser
- Do a diaper drive
- Pledge to raise awareness about diaper need
Can you imagine not having enough diapers for your baby? Did you know that diapers are not covered under safety net programs like food stamps or WIC, and that one in three families in the U.S. struggle to buy diapers for their children? For many families in crisis this can mean being forced to choose between buying diapers or other basic needs like shelter, food, and medicine. Learn about diaper need >
Imagine if instead of Mother’s Day brunch, flowers, and presents, you asked your family and friends to join you to help other mothers who are not so fortunate. What if you pledged to give up the gifts and started a fundraiser to address diaper need instead? Or, simply donate make a gift in honor of a mom you love?
Help a Mother Out, is working to help improve the lives of mothers, children, and families, one diaper at a time. With your help, we are striving to raise $30,000 during this campaign. This will support our program to raise awareness about diaper need and change national policies. It will allow us to continue distributing diapers to our 22 partner agencies. We’ve nearly reached one million diapers. Please help us surpass one million and be part of our 2012 Mother’s Day Campaign to end the need for diapers.
WHY DIAPERS?
A family’s access to a reliable supply of
clean diapers leads to >
Healthy Communities
NO INFECTIOUS DISEASE OUTBREAKS
Dirty diapers on the move can make us sick and spread
hepatitis A, viral meningitis, and severe bacterial diarrheas.
Frequent Diaper Changes
HEALTHY & HAPPY BABIES
Kids don’t have painful diaper rash, fever, loss of appetite or vomiting, herpes, staphylococci, urinary tract infections, jaundice or renal failure. Clean diapers make the whole family smile.
Opportunity to Thrive
PARTICIPATION IN EARLY CARE & EDUCATION PROGRAMS
Parents need to work. Kids need to learn. A supply of clean diapers are required to attend most childcare programs.
Baby needs backup >
You can’t buy diapers with food stamps or get them through WIC (Women, Infants and Children). Yep, it’s true – public assistance programs don’t cover diapers. And, when food pantries are asked what kind of donations are needed, diapers are always a top request.
22% of all children under five years old in the U.S. live in poverty and one out of every three families struggle to afford diapers. Families in need make tight choices with their money. Imagine having to choose between food, medicine, or diapers — a terrible option, yet an all-too-common one.
If a family can’t afford diapers, a baby may spend extended periods of time in the same soiled diaper. The need is so great that diapers are sometimes re-used after they have been soiled. Babies in dirty diapers suffer. It can lead to serious health problems for them and disease outbreaks for entire communities.
Diapers cost an average of $75 to $100 per month and that’s a lot of dough to drop for the 46.2 million people living in poverty in the U.S. That’s a grand total of $2,850 to diaper one child with regular changes. Many low-income shoppers also have to frequent drug stores or urban convenience stores resulting in higher costs than big box stores or online retailers.
Every baby deserves a clean diaper >
The severe health and social consequences for babies and families who do not have access to diapers is a bum deal. Lack of enough diapers can lead to a whole mountain of problems for families in need: unhappy babies, unhealthy communities, under-educated toddlers, and under-employed adults. Something so basic as a diaper can actually have a big impact on a family’s ability to become financially self-sufficient.
Jackie
“I am really thankful for these diapers. I am not making a lot of money for me and my daughter. Times are very hard right now. These diapers are helping me out of a lot. I would probably have to use a towel or something else as a diaper.”
Mary Ann
“I really don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have these extra diapers. It’s helping me because my child won’t have diaper rashes by having to keep on the same diaper for hours. Thank you so much.”
Small Things = Big Impact
The other day I had the opportunity to speak with a social worker, whom I will call Shannon. She visits clients in their home and works closely with caregivers – many of them isolated new mothers who are just learning the basics in caring for their baby. Shannon told me she couldn’t count how many times her clients’ eyes welled up with tears, after she knocked on their door, holding a pack of diapers. I wish you could have heard Shannon — talking about the families she serves and about how something as small as diapers can have such a great impact in the daily life of a family in need.
“We can do no great things, only small things with great love.” ~ Mother Teresa
The power of small is alive and well. When we started Help A Mother Out, we took $100 of our own money and coupled it with countless small acts from a great number of people (including you) and it turned into something greater than we ever expected. This week we hit the 900K diaper distribution mark. It’s really hard to believe that so many small acts of kindness can add up to nearly one million diapers. And here we are.
We are so incredibly grateful to be the conduit of the community’s kindness and we’re very much looking forward to continuing to grow Help A Mother Out; one diaper at a time, one family at a time.
Want to do something small? Start here:
1) Take the pledge to Help A Mother Out
It costs you nothing, but by taking the pledge, you are saying yes to the power of small and taking a stand when it comes to diaper need. We are only strong in numbers and we’d love to count your pledge in.
2) Help us get the word out
In the beginning, we had nothing but a blog and the desire to tell all of our friends about this project. If it wasn’t for the power of good old fashioned word of mouth, we would not be here today. You can help by telling your friends about diaper need. Start here by sharing this infographic.
3) Commit to hosting (or participating in) a fundraiser or diaper drive
Small amounts add up big, and we would be honored with your help to run our programs. Just a few ideas culled from previous supporters:
- Kelly hosts a popular clothing swap amongst her friends every year. A few years ago she decided to charge a small cover ($20) and each year raises $300 on our behalf.
- Xavier, hosts a free car show every year. Last year his team sold special issue t-shirts with the proceeds benefiting great causes – one of them being Help A Mother Out.
- Allie decided to commemorate her baby boy’s first Valentine’s Day by hosting a diaper drive on our behalf. She got out the word to all her friends and family and simply asked them to donate diapers in his honor. She raised 7K diapers!
If each of us commits to doing a little, we can add up to something great.
What are your ideas for doing something small?
Who We Serve
Since inception we’ve distributed diapers to a number of organizations in California and elsewhere in the U.S. Between January, 2011 and January, 2012 we served families through the following agencies. Thank you to everyone who contributed to making this happen! Special thanks go to our friends at Huggies Every Little Bottom and St. Vincent de Paul of Alameda County.
Southern California
- Ascencia (LA County)
- Building a Generation (Inland Empire)
- LA Diaper Drive (LA County)
- Salvation Army,East Los Angeles Community Center (LA County)
- Bayside Community Center (San Diego County)
Northern California
Alameda & Contra Costa Counties
- Brighter Beginnings
- Center for the Vulnerable Child (Children’s Hospital of Oakland)
- Oakland Early Head Start
- St. Vincent de Paul of Alameda County (West Oakland Women’s Center)
- Operation Shower
- Prenatal Care Guidance (PCG), a program of the Contra Costa Public Health Dept.
- Women’s Daytime Drop-in Center (WDDC)
Monterey County
- Monterey County Association of Families Caring for Children
San Francisco County
- Homeless Prenatal Program (HPP)
- Bayview Mission
- APA Family Support Services (APA)
San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties
- Baby Basics of the Peninsula
- Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford (Social Services)
- Star Vista (formerly YFES)
- Creation Home Ministries
- West Valley Community Services
- City Team Ministries, San Jose
- EHC Lifebuilders
7 Amazing Martin Luther King Quotes
If I am a disciple to any prophet, it would have to be to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Here are seven quotes that I keep coming back to that summarize for me why the work we do at Help A Mother Out is relevant to economic justice. What’s your favorite MLK Jr. quote? Feel free to add yours below.
- “True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring .”
- “The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood.”
- “There is nothing new about poverty. What is new is that we now have the techniques and the resources to get rid of poverty. The real question is whether we have the will.”
- ”History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.”
- “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
- “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear. “
- “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
Infographic: No Butt Left Behind
We’re pleased to announce our new infographic!
What to do next:
- Take the pledge
- Share this post on your blog and social networks (click the second icon, located directly above in the gray section).
- When sharing on Twitter, remember to tag us @helpamotherout #hamo so we can tweet thank you.
Best Wishes in 2012!
Lily
“Just this passed Friday a “Lily” called me in distress because she had 3 diapers left with no money and no way of getting any diapers. She is on unemployment, which is running out soon. She has very limited support. The father of the baby also been laid off from work and is barely getting by. Lily was so grateful to be able to get diapers. By me being able to give her some diapers it buys her some time and saves her money.”