Final diaper donations delivered to Village Diaper Bank, exciting end to NBC15′s drive - WMTV - NBC15

DANE COUNTY, Wis. (WMTV) - Before NBC15 could give the final total for the Inaugural NBC15 Diaper Drive, in partnership with the Village Diaper Bank, all the diapers donated at drop-off locations throughout Dane County needed to be collected.

A total of $151,523 was raised during the NBC15 Diaper Drive, along with 82,211 diapers. Because $1 is equal to 7 diapers, we were able to raise 1.1 million diapers for families in need!

Two Men and A Truck partnered with NBC15 to pick-up all the diapers from drop-off sites across Dane County, as NBC15 and The Village Diaper Bank wrapped up a week-long campaign to supply diapers to families in need.

Professional mover, Brett Splittgerber, lends a helping hand for a living. Although, during this day on the job, the heavy lifting will help lighten a burden many families carry.

“I don’t have a lot to give out of my pocket so they give me an opportunity to be involved and at least help with the process,” said Splittgerber.

Two Men and A Truck movers load diaper donations(Erin Sullivan)

As a father, Splittgerber knows what that daily diaper demand looks like.

“I don’t come from the best, richest beginnings or anything so I understand what it’s like to struggle,” Splittgerber said. “I also understand what it’s like to work hard and barley be able to feed yourself let alone afford these diaper prices and stuff.”

His right-hand man on the job, Matthew Lynn, is stocking up on diapers when he can himself.

“I’m expecting my first child in May, Delilah, and it just means a lot in times like this to see everyone’s helping out and obviously having my first baby is a little stressful and just knowing that something like this is going on, it warms my heart,” told Lynn.

From Madison, to Verona and Mt. Horeb, each load of donations filled the truck to near capacity. “More diapers and more diapers, I mean they’re just piling up, it is snowing diapers today which is a beautiful thing and our movers love being a part of this as well,” said Heather Knight, the VP of Marketing & Communications with Two Men and A Truck.

It took the moving company 5-6 hours to pick up all of the diapers and load them into the truck.

“We just feel like Madison is a community that has really given back to us over the years and allowed us to grow.,” said Knight. “So it’s truly a privilege and a pleasure to be able to come alongside an organization like Village Diaper Bank that is helping to care for the community that we care about so much.”

Businesses like Icki Sticki, an ice cream shop, offered up their space to help collect donations. “It’s made me, as a mom, unbelievably proud that our community recognizes that it’s an issue,” said Krista Holmes, a shift lead at Icki Sticki in Mt. Horeb. “Alone in our house we’re spending close to $500 a month in diapers.”

The truck arrived at its final destination packed to the brim with diapers. It was an unexpected and welcome sight for The Village Diaper Bank.

“In addition to match day last week and just kind of the overwhelm we felt with so much support coming from the community there and then now seeing that people showed up in an even bigger way at all of our drop sites and made a special trip, an errand just for us, it feels really good,” said Megan Sollenberger, the Village Diaper Bank’s founder and CEO.

Diaper donations to be loaded and taken to diaper bank(Erin Sullivan)

Sollenberger the best feeling of all will come from families who receive these diapers. She says they are often relieved to get this necessity for their littlest members without bearing the financial burden.

No matter how you feel about public assistance or anything else going on in the world, children don’t really have a choice what households their born into, where they live, any of that. So I think it’s really special that people recognize that babies are probably the most vulnerable in our community and need us the most,” told Sollenberger.

When the diaper bank started 2.5 years ago, they were serving about 40 kids a month and would scale up by about 25 children a month. Now, they’re serving 600-700 a month and expect that number to continue to grow, thanks to this diaper drive.

“It’s surreal that it’s only been 2.5 years. It’s beyond my wildest dreams,” said Sollenberger.