Filling A Need

Some of the women making diapers.

Did you know that one of the biggest requests from patrons of food banks is for disposable diapers? Even though many are recipients of food stamps, did you know that you can't use food stamps for disposable diapers? Huh? Isn't that a major need when a family has a baby?

Stephanie Salisbury and Andie Kingsbury had experience volunteering at local food pantries in Elkhart County and noticed how many families needed this basic item.



As observed by Ms. Kingsbury, "I'd walk through the pantry and the first question people asked would be 'Do you have diapers today?' And just watching their entire countenance deflate when there are no diapers was heartbreaking. That's what actually connected the dots - I knew how to do this and we can find a way to get these into the hands of people." Both women had just formed GREEN OLIVE MINISTRIES, an inclusive, faith-based ministries, and decided to develop the CLOTH DIAPER MINISTRY as part of their outreach.

The objective was to provide low income families with this vital supply and to do so in an environmentally sustainable way. Ms. Kingsbury had figured out how to make reusable diapers when she had had her three children and finances were tight. The diapers were made to be absorbable and adjustable in size for newborns to toddlers.

So, after developing their project, the women needed money and raised that through Indiegogo and a few grants. Then these two enterprising women found other women who were interested in learning how to make the diapers. Oh, and since Ms. Kingsbury also makes the diapers, she has offered to sell what she makes and bring the profits back into the ministry. The same is planned for the women she is teaching how to make the diapers. They. too, can earn money for their enterprise, and also support the ministry with a supply of diapers.

Stephanie Salisbury (left) and Andie Kingsbury.

That's just another way of supporting women from low income families. As Ms Salisbury said, "People who were making $30 an hour are now making $7.25 an hour if they have a job now, so you gotta bridge that gap. If we wanna end the cycle of poverty, we have to do more than just bridge that gap. So this is the beginning of that, we hope." It's so fortunate that Indiana has two women of faith willing to make that difference.

There's some of the finished product.

Thanks to this article from Pollination Project: https://thepollinationproject.org/grants-awarded/stephanie-salisbury-green-olive-ministries-cloth-diaper-ministry/; and this article from The Elkhart Truth: http://www.elkharttruth.com/news/2014/01/21/Local-ministry-combines-sustainability-thriftiness-and-diapers.html.

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