Development

Grant Opportunities Expand

The influx of individual financial contributions enabled NDBN to create the COVID–19 Emergency Relief Grant program. The grants of up to $5,000 each helped struggling diaper banks and period supply programs remain operational throughout the COVID–19 crisis. A total of $91,965 in emergency grant funding was issued to 25 programs in 2020.

Also, in 2020, NDBN’s Funds for Change grant program expanded to include both member diaper banks and the allied programs of the Alliance for Period Supplies.

Funds for Change grants are the only national, competitive grant program dedicated solely to supporting nonprofit organizations that distribute donated material basic necessities to individuals and families in need.

Since launching in 2015, the initiative has generated more than $1.3 million in support for community-based basic needs programs.

In 2020, three diaper bank programs received strategic initiative grants:

• Hawaii Diaper Bank, Kamuela, Hawaii — $20,000 to support the organization’s first office/storage space to collect, warehouse and distribute diapers.
• Helping Mamas, Inc., Norcross, Georgia — $10,000 to expand outreach and capacity to five locations serving rural areas.
• Mid-South Food Bank, Memphis, Tennessee — $10,000 to support a Mobile Diaper Pantry serving children and families in 20 rural counties.

An additional 16 diaper bank programs were awarded micro-fund grants of up to $3,000, as were 11 period supply programs. These grants helped support warehouse expansion, capacity building, marketing, and website development among other activities.

“When the history of this pandemic is written, we will find that there were large economic disparities along with the racial disparities that have already emerged. People in poverty are less able to isolate themselves because they are so often employed in ‘essential,’ though shamefully low-paid, work. They are more likely to be homeless, living in crowded conditions or incarcerated in facilities where disease spreads rapidly.”

NDBN CEO Joanne Samuel Goldblum
in an op-ed for CT Mirror, April 28, 2020

» CHARTING 2020