When Tim and I started Bottoms Up three years ago, we knew that it would grow to be very big.

But being big wasn't the goal.

The only goal we had was to get as many diapers to as many families in need as possible.

But we got big. We grew from just a few community partners (food pantries, child care facilities, domestic abuse shelters, etc.) to more than 80 in 12 counties.

There's only one reason for us to aspire to bigness:

Nearly 40,000 families have benefited from the bigness.

But, bigness comes with challenges.

Funding is one of those challenges. It's only one of the challenges, but it's an important one.

Please consider a year end gift to Bottoms Up. Help meet the challenges of more and more families in need.

We depend on you to be able to meet the needs of those families and are extremely grateful for your contribution.

On behalf of the 40,000 families being served by Bottoms Up:
Thank you!

P.S. I know I ask this a lot, but could you consider becoming one of our monthly donors? https://www.bottomsup.life/

Sincerely,

Jo Welsh
Bottoms Up Diaper Drive
https://www.bottomsup.life/
740.808.6131

If all goes well, 2022 should be a year that Bottoms Up can make a real dent in diaper need in Ohio. That's the plan.

It feels like we are right on the edge of the acceleration of our ability to minister to more families in need. It feels like we can cross over into a space that more families can be helped.

2022 will bring:

1. The distribution of more than 1.5million diapers to those in need,
2. The growth of the World's Largest Diaper Drive to expand to a statewide event through diaper banks all over the state,
3. Geographic growth from 12 counties in Ohio to 16 counties, and
4. Improvement in all aspects of the operations at Bottoms Up, including better communications, expansion of recurring donors, and better training of volunteers, to name only a few initiatives.

There is no Plan B.

There can't be.

Too many people rely on Bottoms Up to make it through.

Too much is riding on our ability to become more agile, more productive, and more well-funded.

There are real people impacted.

There are just 5 days left to make a year-end gift that can jumpstart our year and allow us to be an enormous aid to the poor.

Will you give a year-end gift? Better yet, would you become one of our recurring contributors by setting up a monthly or quarterly gift? Just click the "contribute" button below

Thanks, as usual, for all your help. It means the world to the families served by Bottoms Up.
Sincerely,

Jo Welsh
Bottoms Up Diaper Drive
https://www.bottomsup.life/
740.808.6131

Yep.

Bottoms Up distributed almost a million diapers in 2021!

That means nearly 40,000 families were helped because of your generosity and support.

Thank you.

The next time you're in Kroger, Giant Eagle, Meijer, or wherever you do your grocery shopping, take a look at the price of diapers.

In doing so, I hope you'll see why I ask that you support the work we do here.

They are not cheap and we have to buy about half of the diapers we distribute.

Please consider a year end gift to Bottoms Up. Help meet the challenges of more and more families in need.

As the year draws to a close, please help. Just click HERE to make your year-end contribution (you can also mail a check to the address below, if you prefer).

P.S. Also, consider becoming one of our monthly donors. A little bit every month helps a lot! You can do that at the link above or the "Contribute" button below.

Sincerely,

Jo Welsh
Bottoms Up Diaper Drive
https://www.bottomsup.life/
740.808.6131

A couple of days ago, I heard a quote that was attributed to Mark Twain:

"The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why"

Tim and I may not know exactly why we were born, but we have a pretty good idea that it has to do with the great event that we commemorate in just three days.

Right now, we only know that the little one, born into poverty in a small town 2,021 years ago, is our why.

Bottoms Up has grown out of that why and continues to grow because of that why.

Please accept our most heartfelt wish for a very Merry Christmas.

May God bless you abundantly.

Do you hear what she hears?

The anguished whimper of her baby girl whose diaper hasn't been changed all day. The fussiness of the little one as she drifts of to a tired sleep. The baby's crying as she wakes through the night, trying to find comfort with the diaper rash that never seems to go away.

Do you see what she sees?

The baby girl she holds who never quite smiles. The worried frown she she's in the mirror; the furrow in her own brow that doesn't go away.

Do you know what she knows?

The reality of poverty grips her every thought. How will she feed her baby? Where will she find her baby's next meal? Hers? Will this life ever improve?

At Bottoms Up, we don't hear what she hears, see what she sees, or know what she knows. But...

We can hear her plea for help...

We can see her struggle...

We can't know, fully, what she knows...

But, we know we need to help, in our own little way.

Please join us.

Just reply to this note to let me know how you'd like to help, or click HERE to make your contribution online. In any case, please come to the aid of the poor in this very simple way.
Sincerely,

Jo Welsh
Bottoms Up Diaper Drive
https://www.bottomsup.life/
740.808.6131

As a volunteer board member for Bottoms Up Diaper Drive, I'd like to share a reflection that a friend of mine shared with me last week. Here goes:

Diffusion of responsibility was first documented by a couple of psychologists in the late 60's.

It is the notion that the greater the number of people present, the less likely an individual is to help a person in need because it is easier to rationalize that someone else will do it. It's easier to diffuse our responsibility to the poor, for instance.

But everyone has a voice to affect change. Activate your sense of responsibility. You have equity.

Participate.

Don't be a bystander as the poor, the weak, the sick, and the imprisoned cry out for your help.

Don't subcontract your responsibility to others.

Don't self-censor.

Remember the ONE voice crying out in the desert: "Prepare the way of the Lord!"

You can make a difference. If you can, please click here to support what we do.

May God bless you during the Christmas season!

Dan Cleary, Volunteer Board Member