Lenten Almsgiving – How our donations help?
Our suggested Lenten almsgiving charities for this year are the Sweet Cheeks Diaper
Bank and St. Vincent de Paul Housing Assistance. While almsgiving is often simply
“writing a check,” we may also take the opportunity to learn about the great work being
done by the charity and how we become part of that with our donations. SPUR articles
will provide more information on each charity in alternating weeks. The focus of this
article is the Sweet Cheeks Diaper Bank.
What Is Sweet Cheeks and What Is Its History?
In 2014 Megan Fischer was an expectant mother with a toddler at home and working full time. She happened to come across a Facebook article about a diaper bank somewhere in the West. She had had no idea diapers (and other basic hygiene items) weren’t covered by government assistance so families living below the poverty level often had to choose between food and other basic necessities such as diapers.
Parents were forced to leave their babies in soiled diapers, sometimes for days at a time. This led to diaper rash, staph and urinary infections. When parents ran out of diapers, they were forced to withdraw their children from child care. Without proper childcare, parents could not work to support their families and could not afford the schooling that would help them provide a firm economic base for their family. Thus, a vicious cycle. At that time, Cincinnati had the fourth highest childhood poverty rate in the country, but there was nothing in Cincinnati to address this problem. In October, 2015, Megan decided she had a calling she could not resist: to start such a diaper bank for the Cincinnati
area. Megan left her job in text book publishing and became the Founder and CEO of Sweet Cheeks. She and an associate spent six months building their brand, website and processes. They distributed their first diapers in April, 2016, to three partner agencies that served low income families. She now has a support staff, hundreds of volunteers, and an office and warehouse located on the west side of downtown Cincinnati. Families pick up diapers at the partner agencies rather than the Sweet Cheeks facility so that they can receive other resources and training they need to get out of poverty.
Since 2016, Sweet Cheeks has distributed over 2.3 million diapers! For more information, please click on the Lenten Almsgiving link on our homepage. In the spirit of Lenten almsgiving, please consider this worthy charity. Do not drop off diapers! Instead, please donate using the envelopes in your March-April packet, or donate online at stcharles-kettering.org by clicking the “Online Giving” button at the top of the page. Spare envelopes are also available at the display.