I don't always walk down the diaper aisle at the grocery. Seems odd, as I consider myself as one who knows a lot about diapers, but the other day, I had a shocking experience. Tim and I both stood there in shock at the current cost of diapers.  I know, I know...I've been writing to you about the cost of diapers for years, but I guess I hadn't really seen the effect inflation has had on the poor until a couple of days ago. The cost that really caught our eyes was that of a small package of size 6 diapers...52 cents each!!!  (With our volume purchasing agreements, we can buy them for 15 cents each.) Some people would walk away from that in a depressed mood.  For me, it was another in a line series of wake-up calls to get busy and do all I can to help those who need it.  I walked away motivated (and a little angry). We have only 8 days left for the World's Largest Diaper Drive (WLDD) and we HAVE to make it work.  Those among us who can't afford even a few diapers at 52 cents apiece depend on us... ...and we depend on you. Click here to help. Thank you for being a hero for the poor. P.S. Tim keeps chipping away at the $200,000 goal he's set for WLDD and we only need (as I write this note) $63,515 to meet that goal.  He also keeps telling me that there is someone out there that can/will just write one check for that amount.  Please pass this e-mail along to as many people as you can.  You never know who you'll touch.

Sincerely,


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

 

It all comes down to the next 16 days.

All the planning, all the worrying, all the resources...now it's time to put it all into place.

The World's Largest Diaper Drive is a little less than two weeks away and we are almost ready. There are just a few things left to accomplish.


It feels like awareness of the drive is going well. People are starting to recognize that diaper need is real and dramatic for those living below the poverty line, but it's solvable. (Here's a video that a friend in Minneapolis made for their involvement in our World's Largest Diaper Drive.)

We now have 65 diaper drives going on in the first week of May to collect our 500,000 diaper goal in central Ohio (remember, our overall goal is to collect 2 million diapers that week throughout Ohio and elsewhere).

The goal to raise $200,000 for the drive is going a little more slowly, although we only have about $69,000 left to go. I'd love for one anonymous donor who would give all of that (is it you?). I'll let you know if that happens. In the meantime, we could use your help to make that goal in the next 16 days. Please just be as generous as you can. Click here to help.

This ministry is so valuable to the communities it serves, from Portsmouth to Gambier...big cities and small towns rely on Bottoms Up.

I know you care. That's one of the things that motivates me every day.

You can really make a difference in a mother and her baby's life.

Thanks for being there for them. May God bathe you in His grace!

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

 

Usually, when I don't know an answer, I can find it somewhere.

Not so, with poverty in the United States.

During this very special week, I've been contemplating the plight of the poor among us.

Try as I might, I just can't get my head around all the complexities that create and propagate poverty in America. There are so many players in the dialogue about poverty and so many voices with so many different solutions that it can be hard to figure out the right path.

Are people in poverty because of an addiction? Are they in poverty because of a mental illness? Are they unemployable? Are they just lazy?

Is government at fault? Is the church community at fault? Are schools culpable?

Is it the Democrats? The Republicans? You? Me?

I guess I've come to the uncomfortable realization that it's about a little bit of all of the above. And, even more uncomfortably, I've come to understand that the only solution is with me.


I can't control government, political parties, churches, or the actions or inaction of others. I can control the person I see in the mirror every day.


That's why I get up earlier than I want to, work later than I feel like it, and embrace a reality that I've never imagined.

It's also why, we've started the World's Largest Diaper Drive...a week-long event, starting on May 2nd that hopes to collect more than 500,000 donated diapers to be distributed among those who can't afford them.

In the three and a half years that Bottoms Up has been in existence, it's become clear that the problem of diaper need is real. It's pervasive among those living in poverty.


And, it's solvable.


Please help fund the World's Largest Diaper Drive. In doing so, you'll play a part in helping almost 17,000 families right in our backyard.

These families need you. They need me. They need all of us.

Please just click here to make as generous a gift as you can.

Thank you for your great generosity!

Bless you!

P.S. I know that some of you are our generous supporters. We thank you for your dedication and care for those who need us most.


Sincerely,

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