Tuscaloosa Woman Runs Diaper Bank, Serving Families In Need

In 2015, Danielle Edison founded Bottoms Up Diaper Bank to help meet her community's desperate need for family care and child support services. A single mother of three with a Master’s degree from the University of West Alabama, Edison witnessed this need first-hand when she was pregnant with her second child.

Employed as a social worker at the time, she was making a couple hundred dollars over the income cutoff to receive government aid. According to the United States Census Bureau, the poverty level in Tuscaloosa County is 16.2%, and in Greene County that number nearly doubles to 31.7%.

Get our free mobile app

“I had never heard of a diaper bank until seven years ago when I was in need,” Edison said. “I thought, 'There’s something I can do to help,' but of course I wasn’t really in a position to do that.”

Essentially, a diaper bank operates similarly to a food bank. Bottoms Up was started in Greene County and is sponsored by Woman to Woman Inc. of Eutaw. The organization receives monetary or diaper donations then distributes the collected items to families in need across Greene County and Tuscaloosa.

COVID-19 put a damper on Edison’s ability to distribute diapers over the summer, but as of October, Bottoms Up is back up and running and is asking the community for diapers of any size and brand, diaper cream or baby powder, and even clothes and strollers.

Edison said once donations start building up she would love to create care-packages for teen moms or even host a “Stuff The Truck” fundraiser.

Edison provided the Tuscaloosa Thread with a testimonial from a Bottoms Up diaper recipient and expectant mother of three who praised the benefit of the service.

“Paying for daycare is expensive, so receiving diapers to use at home really helps cut down on our expenses,” the recipient said.

Look out for a distribution day in Eutaw, Alabama on Friday at 214 Praire Ave, and in Tuscaloosa on February 20 at New Life Baptist Church. Checkout Bottoms Up Facebook page or their website for more information on how to donate to this charitable foundation.