Diaper Bank of the Ozarks receives national grant

The Diaper Bank of the Ozarks, the community-based not-for-profit organization that distributes diapers to babies living in low-wage families in the Ozarks, has been selected as one of 24 national recipients of a 2017 Funds for Change grant awarded by the National Diaper Bank Network, NDBN.

“NDBN’s Funds for Change grants help diaper banks reach more families by investing in organizations that we recognize as growing community assets and strengthening that investment with technical support for nonprofit organizations through our national network,” said Susan Van Ness, NDBN chief of programs, in a press release. “NDBN is very pleased to present The Diaper Bank of the Ozarks with a $10,000 grant to further its mission to serve struggling families in the Ozarks.”

According to Jill Bright, executive director of Diaper Bank of the Ozarks, the grant will be used to increase the Rural County Diaper Program. "We currently partner with 12 agencies with a reach into 22 of our rural counties, but there is so much more that we hope to do," Bright said in a statement. "Last year 600,000 diapers were distributed through 40 agencies in Greene County and only 100,000 headed to agencies in the rural counties. This needs to change."  ​

Since its first diaper distribution in 2012, Diaper Bank of the Ozarks has helped provide more than 1.5 million diapers to some 30,000 families living in the Ozarks.