People bring all kinds of things to the homecoming event.

But Chelesa Presley may be the only one wearing a diaper.

Presley grew up in New Hope. He graduated from Columbus High School in 1994 and moved to the Mississippi Delta in 1998. She also has a big family in Columbus. In fact, the county’s Concord community center on Shady Lane was built on land rented by her family.

On Saturday, Presley will return to her hometown to oversee the distribution of diapers through the Delta Diaper Bank, which distributes more than 375,000 diapers to an estimated 12,500 babies from low-income families each year. The Delta Diaper Bank (DBOD) was originally established in 2015 to provide diapers and other products to Coahoma County and later to also provide services to the Delta region.

The event in Columbus on Saturday was just one of these outreach events, but it was very special.

"I'm a Columbus girl," said Presley, co-founder and executive director of DBOD. "That's why we call it a back-to-school community diaper distribution."

At the Concord Community Center from 10 am to 1 pm, DBOD will hold a fast-track distribution event, including diapers, baby wipes, feminine hygiene products-these items cannot be purchased through SNAP or WIC. People who picked up the items were required to wear masks and stay in the car. The Concord Community Center is located at 52 Shady Lane.

All you need to receive a pack of diapers (a pack of 30 to 50, depending on the size) is the child’s name, age, and mailing address so that DBOB can enroll the child in its program, which provides monthly diapers by mail The basics.

As the only nationally recognized diaper bank in Mississippi, DBOB is supported by private donations and the national diaper bank network. It was established to fill the gaps in safety net programs for the poor.

"What we do is so needed," Presley said. "There are many safety net programs, but no safety net to pay for these basic items. Babies need diapers. This is what we do."

Presley says that families with babies generally spend between $80 and $100 per month on diapers.

"This is the estimate before the pandemic," Presley said. "As you know, everything has gone up, including diapers."

Presley said the economic loss also exceeds the cost of diapers.

"If you don't have a diaper supply, it will be difficult to find a nursery," she said. "Most daycares require a certain amount of diapers every day. Therefore, if a mother does not have diapers, she cannot take her children to daycare. If they want to find a job, they must have daycare. When a family does not have enough diapers, It can have many unexpected effects. When you don’t have enough diapers, you can’t change your baby as needed. Babies need to change. Babies should not have diaper rash, but this is what we often see. This is Sad. This is unhealthy."

As Delta Diaper Bank continues to expand its program across the state, Presley said donations are critical.

"Almost everything we do comes from private donations," she said. "We do get funding from several small grants, but in most cases we operate by donations, either from individual donations, or from church and civil society diaper activities."

Presley said people can donate a pack of diapers or make cash donations.

"Really, the cash donation goes one step further," she said. "We buy in bulk at wholesale prices, so we can buy more diapers than donated by individuals. But we have both, and we are happy to have both."

Presley said that Delta's Diaper Bank is actively looking for partners across the state.

"You don't have to open a diaper bank for our participation," she said. "Any organization that provides services to poor families should contact us and we will provide diapers for their projects."

For more information, please email DBOB at [email protected], call 662-351-3844 or find the group on Facebook.

Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protection]

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