How the Junior League of Albuquerque's diaper bank is keeping babies clean and healthy

As she was growing up in Savannah, Georgia, Michelle McMullan can still remember attending Junior League meetings with her mother, "always sitting in the back of the meetings, just listening to the things that were doing in the Savannah community."

She moved to Albuquerque in 2014 after graduating from Georgia College & State University with a bachelor's degree in psychology, then took a couple of years to establish herself in the community before deciding to join the Albuquerque chapter of the Junior League in 2016.

“I felt like it was time for me to give back myself,” she said.

Founded in 1934, the Junior League of Albuquerque is a volunteer-run organization of women whose mission is to advance women’s leadership for meaningful community impact through volunteer action, collaboration and training.

The Junior League has been involved in numerous projects throughout its nearly 90-year history, including with Albuquerque Public Schools and Albuquerque Police Department.

Recently, it has focused on a unique area of need: diapers. According to the National Diaper Bank Network’s 2023 Diaper Check, 1 in 3 families in the United States reported "diaper need." That is defined as a family that cannot afford a supply of diapers adequate for changing at healthy intervals, which on average is every two to three hours.

Babies who remain in soiled diapers for too long risk skin irritation, infections or allergies.

In addition to the health risks, families experiencing diaper need also report cutting back on expenditures such as food or utilities in order to afford diapers. They also have said they missed work or school because they didn't have enough diapers to drop their child off at a child care facility, according to the network's report.

Federal and state safety net programs like WIC or SNAP do not allow its recipients to buy diapers with those funds.

Now the president of the Junior League of Albuquerque, McMullan said that in 2017 the league looked at ways it could help more in the community and saw that diaper needs were a growing area of concern. So it launched its own diaper bank in 2018. It is the only one in the metro area and collects, buys and packs diapers to send to community partners, who place monthly orders and receive diapers at no cost. Those partners then distribute the diapers to those in need.

One of those partnerships, struck recently, is with NAPPR, also known as Native American Professional Parent Resources. NAPPR Executive Director Elaine Sanchez said the diapers they receive and distribute help families enrolled in its early intervention program across the four counties: Bernalillo, Valencia, Socorro and Sandoval.

“Diapers, wipes — those kinds of things are not cheap, and they’re not always readily available,” Sanchez said. “(Diapers) are a disposable item that needs constant replenishment, so to have a resource like (the diaper bank) is huge.”

Since fall 2021, the diaper bank has distributed 51,380 diapers, as well as wipes and feminine hygiene products, to their community partners.

“It’s really lovely and uplifting,” said Ashlee Wright, community engagement vice president at the Albuquerque Junior League. “I think one of the most special parts is the number of people that just find us and want to give us their diapers. It really creates a broad community impact and connection.”

In addition to donating diapers, people can access the Junior League website, jlabq.org, and find links to make monetary donations to the diaper bank, shop its Amazon wish list or apply to host a diaper drive at work or school.

Currently, the diaper bank is in urgent need of diapers in sizes 4, 5 and 7.

“You know, diapers are not something that’s top of mind when you think of donating items,” said Tory Witt, executive vice president at the Albuquerque Junior League. “But it’s a necessity. Every baby needs some sort of diaper.”