Wednesday is diaper day at All-Options in Bloomington

Norm Crampton
·2 min read

On Wednesdays between noon and 7 p.m., families caring for small children are stopping by All-Options Pregnancy Resource Center in Bloomington for free cloth or disposable diapers and baby wipes.

The Hoosier Diaper Program began in 2015 and All-Options, 1014 S. Walnut St., hands out around 20,000 diapers each month, said state program director Jessica Marchbank.

Jessica Marchbank, state program director at All-Options in Bloomington, delivers a diaper order to a client of Hoosier Diaper Program on Sept. 13, 2023.
Jessica Marchbank, state program director at All-Options in Bloomington, delivers a diaper order to a client of Hoosier Diaper Program on Sept. 13, 2023.

“We’re averaging about 250 families per month, and that represents about 300 to 350 kids,” Marchbank said as she managed diaper deliveries on a recent Wednesday afternoon.

And the picker-uppers are not only moms with toddlers in the backseat but also dads and grandpas and grandmas, she said.

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“I’ve been doing this for six and a half years,” Marchbank said. “Some of the families have been in the program since 2015.”

Enrolling in Hoosier Diaper Program requires filling out a form and demonstrating need, Marchbank said. And with diapers costing around $70 a month for one child, need adds up quickly when you’re already having a hard time covering food and rent and utilities.

Citing her own experience, Marchbank is keenly aware of family expenses these days.

“My youngest is now 8,” she said. “Our childcare costs us more than our mortgage.”

“I’m very familiar with the families that are in the program. I celebrate with them, and I also grieve with them, commiserate. We get a lot of requests for other resources. We can’t do everything — we’re small, we have two staff.”

But they do refer client families to other services.

This is National Diaper Need Awareness Week. The Hoosier Diaper Program relies heavily on individual and corporate donations to fund the service, Marchbank said. Besides rent for the building on South Walnut Street and salaries for two staff, there’s the annual cost of diapers and wipes: $35,000.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington's All-Options supplies struggling families with diapers