Northern Illinois University graduate student Kendall Hampton is on a mission to help overcome diaper insecurity for young families in need. The DeKalb native became aware that no government subsidies are available to young families to offset the cost of diapers. Similarly, many community resource programs, including food pantries, do not include diapers as a stocked item. With costs for diapers soaring by as much as 60% since 2019, Hampton was moved to create the non-profit Empower Parenthood Project. The Empower Parenthood Project holds diaper collection events and then distributes them through community events, usually in partnership with other non-profits. The non-profit officially launched with its 501C3 tax status last year.
Sycamore Rotarians heard Hampton’s story this week and were encouraged to bring a diaper donation. Hampton estimated that the volume of diapers collected would theoretically help cover up to a month’s worth of usage. Her current diaper drive is in partnership with Northwestern Medicine which has various drop-off locations. Other drives and fundraisers have even included baking 500 cookies. Hampton also wants to raise awareness on how cash-strapped families don’t have access to any subsidy for this essential child item. She said there are some allowance-type bills pending in Springfield, but they have not yet moved to the passage stage.
Further information on events and fundraising is available at the Empower Parenthood Project website: www.empowerparenthood.org . Kendall Hampton may be contacted through email at: empowerparenthoodproject@gmail.com.