By Leslie Garza, Director, Galveston Diaper Bank
A basic need can be both essential and largely unseen. For 13 years, the Galveston Diaper Bank has worked to bring greater awareness to diaper and incontinence hygiene insecurity while helping ensure that families and individuals throughout Galveston County have access to essential hygiene supplies.
Founded in 2013 by Kathy Modzelewski and Angela Brown, the Galveston Diaper Bank began with a simple mission: helping families access clean diapers for their babies. Since then, that mission has grown to serve people across generations, distributing more than 10 million essential hygiene supplies to local families, seniors and individuals with disabilities.
Today, GDB provides baby diapers, pull-ups, wipes, feminine hygiene products and adult incontinence supplies through a network of community partners throughout Galveston County.
Diaper Need Awareness Month brings attention to a need that is often overlooked. A parent without enough diapers may struggle to maintain childcare or employment. An older adult on a fixed income may have to choose between incontinence supplies and other household necessities. Individuals with disabilities and their caregivers face recurring expenses that cannot simply be postponed.
These are not occasional needs. They are everyday necessities that affect health, comfort, independence and dignity.
But behind every milestone in our organization’s history is something equally important: a community that continues to show up.
The Galveston Diaper Bank recently welcomed sponsors, donors, volunteers and community supporters to a special Sponsor Appreciation Gathering to recognize the people and organizations whose generosity makes this work possible. The gathering was an opportunity to celebrate our collective impact, express our gratitude and recognize that reaching more than 10 million supplies distributed has never been the work of one organization alone.
To our longtime supporters, corporate sponsors, foundations, community partners, volunteers and individual donors, thank you. Whether through financial contributions, product donations, volunteer hours, grants or helping connect us with resources, every act of generosity strengthens our ability to serve.
The Galveston Diaper Bank extends heartfelt thanks to our major sponsors, including Moody National Bank, USA DeBusk, and Craig Brown; our dedicated monthly donors, Donna Dees, Carol Holloway and Tom Tobin, and Russ Artmier; and the many anonymous donors whose generosity helps sustain this mission. We are equally grateful to our dedicated volunteers, including Tom and Mary Scott and the Garza, Jones, and Briseño families, for giving their time and helping make this work possible.
As we look ahead, we invite others throughout Galveston County to become part of this mission. Local businesses, civic organizations, congregations and individuals can make a difference through sponsorships, financial gifts, product drives, volunteer service and community partnerships.
Thirteen years and more than 10 million essential supplies later, one thing remains true: the need has not disappeared, but neither has our community’s willingness to respond.
Because when a community chooses to see a hidden need, it can choose to do something about it.
Comfort for babies. Dignity for seniors. Essentials for all.
Leslie Garza
Director, Galveston Diaper Bank
About Galveston Diaper Bank
The Galveston Diaper Bank provides diapers, wipes, adult incontinence supplies, and feminine hygiene products to help create a healthier, more dignified environment for low-income and vulnerable individuals and families throughout Galveston County.
To learn more about our mission or how to get involved, visit www.galvestondiaperbank.org.
