OUR HISTORY
As the only diaper bank based in the WNC region, Babies Need Bottoms has been reducing caregiver stress by increasing access to essential care items for babies, children and families since 2017.
Read more about how we got started, and how we’ve grown.
2017: Babies Need Bottoms established as the first diaper bank in WNC
In the early 2000s, diaper banks across the country began forming as people realized the need to fill in the gaps for public assistance programs, which still don’t cover diapers to this day.
Our founders, who had worked at another diaper bank outside of North Carolina, started Babies Need Bottoms when they moved to Asheville and saw the local need in Western North Carolina. For the first two years, we served five counties.
By 2019, Babies Need Bottoms had distributed more than 72,000 diapers to more than 3,500 babies and toddlers in Western NC.
2019-2020: Alicia and Meagan Join as Co-EDs,
Covid Increases Diaper Need
In August 2019, our current Co-Executive Directors Alicia and Meagan took over the reigns at the founders’ request. Within months, the Covid-19 pandemic hit, and the already high diaper need rose exponentially across the country and across Western NC.
By the end of 2020, Babies Need Bottoms had grown to serve six counties and 8,500 children — a 393% increase over 2019. We did this by expanding the number of partners from 15 to 50 and by working with our national network partners, Baby2Baby and the National Diaper Bank Network, to bring needed resources into the region from as far as California, Chicago and Texas.
2021-2023: Rapid Growth
From 2021-2023, Babies Need Bottoms continued its rapid growth. In just two years, We:
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added 18 new partners (for a total of 73),
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served tens of thousands more children,
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distributed hundreds of thousands more diapers to reach a total of more than one million diapers given, and
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added 10 counties to our service area (for a total of 16).
We also completed our first strategic plan in response to our rapid growth. The plan focuses on sustainable capacity building, and it has served us well in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
2024-2025: A Steady Source of Support for the Community Following Hurricane Helene and Today
In September 2024, Hurricane Helene destroyed homes and wiped out entire communities across Western North Carolina.
In the aftermath of the storm, Babies Need Bottoms staff and volunteers weren’t just responders, they were survivors. And yet, in the days after, we came together to make sure children and families had what they needed.
Now, Babies Needs Bottoms serves an average of 2,500 children per month across 18-counties, in partnership with over 80 community-based organizations.
Together with our partners, which include food pantries, child care centers, faith-based groups and more, we are broadening our scope to include not only diapers, but additional hygiene and care items critical to family health, recovery and resilience.
We’ve also started a Formula Fund so we can sustainably support families who need formula for their babies, and our newly established Care Kits program provides additional supplies to parents and babies, including support for breastfeeding mothers and parents who are potty training.
