Gentle Love Diaper Pantry is a youth-run 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides diapers and baby essentials to marginalized, low-income families through a network of seven community partners based in Manchester, East Hartford, Vernon and South Windsor. The pantry accomplishes our mission by procuring pallets of diapers from a distributor at discounted prices which are delivered to donated space at Greene Moving and Storage and in turn distributed free of charge to community partners that assist low income families. 

Through this model, Gentle Love harnesses the power of collaboration, working within the existing social service sector to avoid duplication of services. Each child is eligible to receive 50 diapers every month from their preferred community partner, which is deemed the “diaper gap” or number of diapers that a family cannot on average afford to purchase in a given month. We focus exclusively on providing diapers because they are a material necessity not covered under federal welfare programs like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) and cost $70-80 a month per child. Families are alleviated from a major expense through receiving a supplemental supply of diapers, reducing stress, while being connected to community resources that create a pathway towards financial stability.