Welcome to the everyday matters podcast, a show from NetSmart. Everyday matters is about the opportunity we have to make a difference. Our collective cause connected mission is about impacting health care in meaningful ways. We seek to provide a place to share stories about the progress being made, how to overcome challenges, and ideas to inspire. Each conversation is about the work being done and the opportunity before us. Whether it’s about advocacy, awareness, or challenging stigmas, we know that together anything and everything is possible. Let’s get into the show where we learn from yesterday in pursuit of tomorrow. Here, we all work to ensure every day matters. Welcome to an Everyday Matters podcast. We’ve had the opportunity the last many weeks to really connect and talk with nonprofit organizations, those out there who are serving the community in ways that candidly, I didn’t even fathom. And today, we’re joined, by a couple of guests, and it’s going to have an interesting name and interesting mission, ones that people probably haven’t heard before, and I’m pretty excited about it. I’ve gotten to see our women of Netsmart Group focus on this one a couple of times a year, and Reagan, who has joined us, is going to tell us about that role as well. But before we do that, I’m going to have Susan introduce herself, the name of the organization, and then Reagan, I’ll have you chime in, and then we’ll jump right into it. Susan? Sounds great, Tom. Thank you so much. My name is Susan Belger Angulo. I am the co executive director and chief development officer at Happy Bottoms, Kansas City’s only diaper bank. Now I say Kansas City’s only diaper bank. There are nine diaper banks in the state of Missouri, and there are over two hundred diaper banks in the country. We all work independently to combat diaper need in our communities. And what is diaper need? It’s the lack of inefficient supply of diapers to keep your babies clean, dry, and healthy. Well, and it’s about diapers, but more. So much more. We’re going to jump in and talk to with that a little bit. Thank you very much for joining. Thank you inviting me. I’ve gotten to see, you know, the name and gotten to see the organization Happy Bottoms now for a couple of years. And I said, we’ve really got to get a conversation going because I want to share this with other people in the community about the amazing and wonderful work that you’re doing. Regan, tell us about yourself. Yeah. Hi. So I’m Regan Baron and I’m get the pleasure of being the senior vice president of our client success here at Netsmart, which means really that I’m looking at all the data available on our clients and making sure that as they transition through their life cycle that we’re supporting them in every way we possibly can. Secondarily to that, one of my more fun jobs at Netsmart is I get the opportunity to be the executive sponsor of the Women of Netsmart Associate Resource Group. And so that resource group is one of many across Netsmart. We are very focused on helping the women of NetSmart grow and thrive and, become better versions of themselves. Love it. And one of you’ve worked with this group and you talk a little bit about the why behind that before we jump into the organization. Cause I want our audience to connect the dots. You know, it’s more than just, this isn’t, you know, we’ve openly talked about this, Reagan, around this isn’t about patting ourselves on the back. It’s not about humble bragging and those types of things. We really feel an obligation and an opportunity to serve our community in a very unique way. And we do that through time, talent, treasure. How can we donate our time? How can we be volunteers? Hey, we have certain gifts and abilities that, hey, can we help this organization in that way? And then treasurer is obviously donations. Do you mind talking a little bit about how that ARG group got connected with Happy Body? Yeah, absolutely. So we’ve had a relationship now for a couple of years. And, as I recall, it was a local associate who knew someone that was very active with Happy Botoms and brought it to the ARG leadership as a possible path of giving back. And we really liked it for a couple of reasons. One is all of our associate resource groups want to contribute to our Everyday Matters cause and mission. We also know headquarters. So Kansas City is, whether we live here or not, this is our headquarters. This is our community that we serve in many ways and many of our local clients serve. So we liked that connection as well. And then, most especially, we have associates all over the country. And so they were able to participate in this collaboration with Happy Bottoms because they’re able to donate the diapers. And it was just so fun to see everyone get excited and get behind that cause. I also have a background in nursing. And so I was a nurse way before I started my IT career. So when I think about the communities that I would take care of as a nurse, as a direct care provider, it’s just such an important need. And I will say that I didn’t know about Happy Botems until it came to us through Netsmart and through EDM and through the women’s ARG. Well, and we’re going to jump into that, Regan, because I know in your role, and you know, I’ve had the opportunity to work together for many years, this is not something that probably naturally comes to mind. And I think yet it is something that just doesn’t address a physical need, it addresses our well-being, our mental well-being. And Susan, as we jump into this, let’s talk a little bit about the name. Let’s talk a little bit about what the organization does. Okay. And you know, and it really goes beyond just providing the diapers. It’s filling a gap and avoiding a community connection at some of the most challenging if you’re a parent, I’m a parent, challenging time of life. It’s a lot, especially a first time parent. An expensive time of life. Oh, very much. And just when you think you have everything ready, you don’t. And it really you know, one of our values here, Susan, is Netsmart is a team sport, because we believe life is a team sport, community is a team sport. And when I think about your organization, you really resemble that value. We do. It’s a team sport. We’re going to come and walk with you during this exciting time and daunting time. Tell us more about the organization. So Happy Bottoms was founded in two thousand and nine. Our founder executive director was trying to decide, do I go back to work? She was a production, manager at VML, and or do I, do something good in the community? She had a daughter. She was the daughter was two. One of her friends said, I’ve been hearing about diaper need, and she said, well, maybe I’ll try a I’ll I’ll collect diapers for a week and see where that gets me. Hoping that she would get seven thousand diapers from her friends, at the end of that seven days, she had over thirteen thousand diapers in her garage. And then it was like, now what do I do? And so she reached out to two social service agencies and said, I have diapers to provide, and got those into the hands of those service, social service agencies. And within a couple of weeks, they were calling back and saying, do you have more diapers? The need is out there. And so she continued to get our our five zero one c three and in twenty ten, Happy Bottoms was born. I love it. I mean, that is, you know, we talk about entrepreneurship, we talk about innovation. That is an exact example of that. There’s a need. There’s an opportunity for me to do something about it. She saw that and said, let’s hopefully we get a few thousand diapers. Exactly. And got over ten thousand of them. And then not only that, do you have more because the need didn’t go away. It did not. And it grows every single year. So how long so it’s been in existence for how long now? This is our seventeenth year. That’s amazing. It is. And so in the early days, they were all volunteers, and there were three staff doing all of the work. I joined the team in August of twenty nineteen. I was the fifth full time employee. We had two part time employees, and we were distributing a little over, probably like about half a million to a million diapers out the door during that time frame. That’s amazing. It is. Then COVID hit. Yes. And that changed everything. That changed how we did our business. We rely so heavily on volunteers, like the ladies that come in to wrap diapers, and we’ll talk a little bit more about that. But we had relationships. We are all of the diaper banks or a majority of the diaper banks are partners with the National Diaper Bank Network, and that affords us the opportunity to purchase diapers at a reduced cost through many manufacturers. We couldn’t do it, if we were going to Costco or Sam’s or any other store and trying to provide the number of diapers that we need to get in the community. Well, and I think it’s let’s go back just a little bit because you’ve already introduced how to scale, how you’re going out there and meeting all the needs. But I want our listeners to really understand what happens to a person when those needs go unmet? What is the impact on them and the family? Well, I, you know, from just I will have to say, I had a totally different, perspective when I joined the team. My perspective of why Happy Bottoms was needed is because single moms were getting pregnant, to receive resources from the government. So real quick, I think that’s, I love that we’re going to hit this head on. That’s what we refer to as stigma. It is. And that stigma is a barrier of a preconceived idea that isn’t always factual. It is true. And one of our biggest jobs that we have as part of what everyday matters exists for is how do we challenge that stigma out there because it’s a barrier and hindrance to not only people getting help, but people offering help. Correct. And if you can continue to unpack that part of it, because I don’t think your first impressions is not probably is very similar to to many in our audience that are thinking that’s what it’s about. It is. But it is the farthest from the truth. Forty six percent of the families that receive diapers through our eighty three partner agencies, and we can talk about partner agencies and why that matters in a little bit. Forty six percent of those families are two parent households. Either both parents are working or one parent is working two jobs. We say they are basically living at their means. So think about our if they’re school teachers, maybe they have maxed out their credit cards, maybe they have a a car that needs to be fixed for some reason, and now they’ve thrown themselves into deep poverty. Thirty two percent after, that two parent household are either single moms or single dads. And then the statistics go down from there. Single parents living with a grandparent or grandparents raising their grandchildren because there’s no other way for them to not go into the foster care system. Well, and I think you’re hitting a topic that I believe everyone can connect with, and that is things have not gotten cheaper. No. It’s gotten more expensive. Absolutely. It only takes some things we find. Sometimes we make choices that find maybe not so great things happening to us. Some things find us a car breaking down. Right. The challenge is the same. And for that child, still, you know, just trying to figure out life at that point. Where you’re seeing the challenge in poverty right now, where it was once people were living paycheck to paycheck, but now it’s even worse than that. Right. It’s not even being able to live to that next paycheck. It’s having to find anything and everything. And these are often people who are carrying a couple jobs, as you said, and more than one job, just trying to do that. And we can sit and say, Hey, you should figure that out. But what I like is this is a team sport. It is. Let us walk with you. It is. Let us help you in some of the most vulnerable times of our life and being able to care for a child. Let’s talk a little bit more about what happens and how a family gets engaged. So there’s a family out there maybe as need right now. Absolutely. How does that happen? So they can go to our website. Like I said, we have eighty three partner agencies. We partner, and in that early days, what Jill Gajkowski, our founder executive director, did with those thirteen thousand diapers was connect with a partner agency. What we know will happen or what we hope happens is that a family will go and get diapers and that that partner agency will wrap their arms around them and provide other services that they might need. Do they need food? Do they need clothing? Do they need rent assistance? Do they need, electrical assistance, to paying a bill? And, so we want to make sure that the whole family is taken care of. What we hate and what we and why we are so passionate to get as many diapers into the hands of families that need them is we hear the stigma of the mom who says, I got to my pantry, and there was one diaper left, and I don’t have any money to go get any other diapers. Now what am I gonna do? Yeah. I’m gonna use a t shirt and maybe a bag from Walmart, and I’m going to makeshift a diaper. And that, one, does not give a family dignity, and it’s not healthy for the child. So I want to pick up on that, because there’s a term that we use in the communities we serve, it’s called social determinants of health. And it really is all these other factors, you know, education, where we live, our vocation, debt, that impact our well-being. That sometimes it is bigger than what we’re able to even see on the surface. And Reagan, as we’re sitting here talking about this, and you’ve already mentioned that you’ve seen some of these firsthand, how do ability to get diapers impact a person in their mental well-being? Oh, I just have, my heart’s breaking as you’re talking because I’m remembering scenarios from my nursing career. I’m remembering having two infants at home myself at one time. And, yeah, the the moment of panic when you’re like, oh, we’re almost out of diapers. Right. And and I fortunately had the wherewithal to be able to go get some new diapers, but I’m not sure our average listener knows how much a pack of diapers cost. So depending on where you go to get them, and this is one of the things. If you’re living in the inner city and you have no access to a big box store and you’re going to the convenience store, maybe you’re going to a seven Eleven or someplace else, you might be getting a box of ten or twelve diapers that could cost you upwards of twenty dollars. But an average box of diapers now is somewhere between thirty eight and fifty dollars depending on how many diapers and the size of diapers that are in the box. So I think back to the families I cared for that were on the lower income side who had different social determinants of health that were kind of working against them. And thinking through, I know how much formula costs. And if the mother hasn’t been well fed and nourished, then maybe not able to breastfeed. So now you’re buying formula to keep your baby alive. So where do you prioritize that? You probably pick the formula before the diapers. And so then as a nurse, I know how skin breakdown can occur if you don’t have that moisture wicking material the way modern diapers have been formed. There’s a reason that we stopped using cloth diapers. Exactly. Holy. For many reasons. It was a thing for a while. But yeah, I mean, modern diapers are just so much better at keeping the skin barrier safe. And so now you’ve got open wounds and bed sores and the introduction of possible bacteria and Emergency room visits. Exactly. I mean, just problem upon problem can occur. And I don’t think that before we started partnering with Happy Bottoms that I even ever thought, gosh, diapers are like a gateway drug into, you know, better health. Right. But it’s also a gateway into furthering a child’s education. Because if a parent, doesn’t have diaper enough diapers to take their child to day care, then moms and dads are losing upwards of five days a month because they don’t have the supply of diapers so that their child can go to day care and continue. And we all know that that early childhood education is so important for keeping a child in the ranks of school and graduating further down the road. I mean, it’s a good example then of all that begins to pile up. You know, you gave many examples. I didn’t even think about the formula piece of it and the expense associated with that. And all of a sudden, as parents, there’s something universal. We want to care for our child. We want their well-being. We want them to be loved. And all of a sudden, I’m not able to take care of them. I’m not able to provide for them. And you feel this weight and emptiness that begins to be really heavy versus all of a sudden somebody’s come around, a team’s come around and many of our clients are those providers and being able to provide someone may think it’s just providing a diaper. It’s not. It’s gonna Yeah. It’s a sign of One diaper will change your life. It will. It says it’s gonna be okay. Yeah. And we’re gonna make this through it. Exactly. And I’m not alone. I’m not by myself laboring. You talked about single moms, single dads. There’s a team that’s here in formulating that path on being able to get to, we’re going to make this and it’s going to get there. Do you mind sharing a couple of kind of the success stories? As you think about over seventeen years and the lives that you’ve impacted, what would be a story that our audience would be just like, that’s One comes quickly to mind and it happens to be Happy Bottoms board member. He was raising his two granddaughters, and he talks about in fact, he we gave him the fifteen millionth diaper that we were handing out. This and this was Fifteen million? Fifteen million. Oh, we’re at thirty five million now. Oh my goodness. And we just hit thirty five million this past month. But we gave his family the fifteenth millionth diaper, and we were able to chat with him. He got he received a phone call one night that his daughter had given birth to twins, and she was giving them up and that he and his wife had a choice, to come and get the twins, or they were going into foster care. And he was like, I’m not letting these boys, they were twin boys, go into foster care. Wow. And so he and his wife went to the hospital, picked up the boys. Now they are a family of six, and they have twins who and they don’t have cribs. They don’t have formula. They don’t have diapers. They don’t have clothing. They have nothing. And the first connection that he made was with Happy Bottoms. Wow. And was so just touched by the fact that we were there to provide them with diapers so that they didn’t have to think about that piece of it. Right. They could focus on all of the other pieces of it. And we immediately, after about a year, said, would you be on our board and tell your story? And it does resonate with so many people. And you have no idea who you’re touching and how it changes a life. Well, think how beautiful that is, is once a recipient now also giving back. Absolutely. And really coming full circle on that piece of it. If you’re joining us today, as you’re listening, we’re talking with Susan and Reagan, we’re talking about Happy Bottoms. It’s an agency, a group that is focused on providing diapers at a time in need when a person finds himself in a situation that needing a team to come wrap around them. And we’re going to transition the conversation more from the need to volunteering, and how does that work, and why is that so important? We’ve already talked about time, talent, and treasure, and opportunity to be able to connect with that. And Regan’s going to speak to some of this part of the conversation because at Netsmart, our women’s ARG, our associate resource group, has really worked with this group to say, we want to be a participant and do that. Regan, just a couple questions for you. I think the first one, before we even get into happy bottoms, why volunteering is important? I mean, everyone’s busy. There’s a lot going on. Surely, is just one more thing. Why is volunteering an important thing? Always one more thing, right? Well, this year, one of the big celebrations that the women of Netsmart do each year is in March. So we just hit our biggest month of the year because it’s Women’s History Month in within International Women’s Day. So each year there is a global slogan and this year was Give to Gain. And I love that one because it’s so tied to the mission of Netsmart. It’s tied to Happy Bottom’s mission. It’s tied to the women of Netsmart mission, which is when you give through your time, treasure, talent, when you mentor someone, when you are mentored by someone, we are all giving, we are all gaining. And so we did an entire campaign across Netsmart where the women across all of our different offices came and said, this is what I’ve given and this is what I’ve gained. And it was just a really nice moment of sharing and coming together. But time Real quick. Do you have a story you can share on that? I mean that the game part sounds pretty awesome. If you can anonymously share some Oh, share a really cool moment that you heard. You know, I am a vessel that has been poured into by so many impactful people in my life, men and women, different types of mentors, sponsors, family, friends. And, yeah, I don’t think any of us can say that we would be where we are today if we hadn’t been poured into by those people. And we learn those lessons and then we try to share those back with others. I love that because, I mean, you think about it’s no secret. We’re having a hard time getting along in the world these We’re seeing it in every part. We’re seeing it in our neighborhoods. We’re seeing it in our communities. We’re seeing it around the world. And what I like about this, and one of the reasons why we’re really focusing and stressing around the Everyday Matters part is we’re all looking for answers. What can we be doing different? The reality is, and Reagan just shared, that answer begins within. Instead of saying, what can someone else be doing for me? What can I be doing for someone The give to gain part is so vitally important? It’s why we’re staking the time to highlight so many wonderful and beautiful volunteer organizations that are coming nonprofits coming together to say we want to make a difference. Because I think we need to take our eyes off of everything that’s wrong, and put our hearts and minds on what is right and working. And Happy Bottoms is a great example of that. Reagan, why so let’s let’s there’s people out there who’s thinking about volunteering. Yeah. And they got busy lives. We’ve already talked about lots going on. First of all, does it make a difference? And two, I think if you can underscore a little bit on that part of, for me personally, when you give and volunteer, you give far back of anything you give. You mind talking to that person right now that’s listening who’s maybe on the edge of, is this really important right now? Right. Well, if Susan hasn’t convinced you that it’s very important To give to Happy Bottoms, then think about this. So we all we all have probably known someone or seen on TV or gone to volunteer at a food bank. Right? Sorting food, putting it into sacks for families that can come and receive those very important things. And I don’t know if most people know that a lot of those organizations then also have diapers that are donated. And one of the volunteer jobs is sorting the diapers into sizes and putting them into smaller bundles those families to come and receive. So that’s something I’ve personally done with my kids through some Catholic Charities work. So I love that. So let’s go one click on that one. Yeah. With your kids. Yeah. So it’s not just volunteering, you know, the adults. Right. It’s the kids. Why is that important to you? Well, you have to you have to teach them from a young age that giving back to the community is is an important part of their development as a human and what they will get back in life. And, you know, my kids always their favorite thing is going in, sorting the diapers. And they like to count them and package them and put them together because they’re thinking, you know, it’s helping babies. Right? Right. But I don’t I don’t think most people understand. And so if you’re if you’re young and early career and you’re thinking, well, I don’t really even know anybody that’s a mom yet, I can tell you that your time would be certainly valued. You could get a girls group together and then you go all have a margarita afterwards to celebrate. I mean, that would be a really fun way to give back any joy. Take a hat to the Kansas City beer company. Right across the street. They make it so easy. Our warehouse. Exactly. Makes it great. But also, I think you said something really important earlier, which is if I don’t have a lot of extra time, what is the very best way that I could give of my money to Happy Bottoms? I know we have a diaper drive happening here at Nutsmart, which we’re getting ready to kick off. And so we have collection containers down in our lobby. But you said something important earlier, which is you have better purchasing power than you do. We do. Through the National Diaper Bank and honestly through I we have an incredible finance director. Our entire staff is amazing. But our finance director is out there looking for the best deals possible. Wow. And we are able to take your ten or twelve dollars and buy double the amount of diapers. I can diaper a baby for twelve dollars a month. Wow. And that is giving that family seventy five diapers. I can’t do that if I’m buying those those diapers from a big box No. But we also are looking for opportunities all the time. This past year, we had a a great opportunity. We are I feel like we are great stewards of everyone’s money. I can say without a doubt that I can put eighty six cents of every dollar that I raise back into our program. That’s true. Not very many nonprofits can say that. No. That’s very that’s a very low overhead. And so we are looking always for great deals. And this past year, through the National Diaper Bank, there was a manufacturer who put Smurfs on their diapers and had planned to sell them to Walmart. And somehow, like everything that happens sometimes, Walmart and the brand got crossways and the brand What? Disagreed? I disagree. Oh my gosh. And the brand said, you cannot sell those diapers to Walmart. And so now this manufacturer had millions of diapers sitting in his warehouse. And because we are such great stewards of our money, when that opportunity came up, we were able to buy nine truckloads of diapers and save a hundred and twenty thousand dollars serving more families in our community because we are such great stewards. I love patience. I love that you all of us see the headlines, and we see there’s a lot of questioning around nonprofits right now. I didn’t even ask you a question. You’re hitting that head on. You’re like, look, our stewardship will put it up there with the best. Absolutely. Eighty six cents for every dollar directly goes to it. That’s a business mindset. I love that because it’s saying some of the things that maybe people are apprehensive and concerned about, you’re saying you don’t need to be. Yeah. And I can assure you that we are being good stewards of anything that you help us out. But I’m just curious. I mean, I’m listening to you and Reagan, and you guys got it all covered. You don’t need volunteers. You don’t need donations. It sounds like it’s all working. Tom, furthest from the truth. Last year in twenty twenty five, Happy Bottoms grew twelve percent. In twenty twenty four, we did actually, in twenty twenty three, coming out of COVID, we did an independent study of families in our community to say, we believe, we’ve seen, we think we’re this is what we’re seeing, is that the need is deeper and wider than what the average diaper bank provides to a family. And that average diaper bank provided fifty diapers a month, which was basically the gap between what a family could afford and what they still needed. And we felt like families needed more than that. So we did this independent study, and in March of twenty twenty four, we pulled the Band Aid off and said, we’re gonna figure this out. We’re gonna start giving families seventy five diapers per month per child. And that made a huge difference. And that year, we knew that we were gonna exponentially grow Right. Almost seventy six percent by adding that extra thing. We had to also do a lot of work in could the partner agencies carry that many more diapers for families? Did we have a truck that could deliver the diapers? And so I had to go out and, shake a few more trees and get a donor to purchase a new box truck for us so that we could cart those diapers around? And could our staff and our volunteers be able to wrap that many more diapers because our best buying power is to buy those diapers in bulk. Right. And so every box of diapers comes in a different configuration of amounts in each box. So we literally are opening up every package of diapers that’s that is purchased bulk, and we rewrap those. And that is what the wrapping experience is at our warehouse. We’re counting, we’re strapping, we’re putting them back through a plastic machine, we’re putting a label on them. And we have sizes newborn through size seven now, and two sizes of training pants. And but that experience led us then to needing more volunteers. And so that volunteer, when you come and wrap diapers at our warehouse, the diapers that you wrap that day will be on the bottom of a baby in a month. Wow. Because we are distributing six hundred and forty thousand diapers out the door every month to serve about seventy one hundred families in our six county area and beyond. So, the business world, that kind of inventory turn is pretty exciting. It is. In the nonprofit world and filling need, it’s a little daunting. It is. And it can be sometimes a little scary. Oh yeah, a hundred percent. I could absolutely see that, which only underscores what Regan was talking about is bringing the teams and coming in. Because while you’ve got the purchasing power and all that, you’re getting at a discount because you’re getting it in more raw materials. And now you need to bring the manufacturing together Correct. Of packaging all that together. I’m here talking with Susan from Happy Bottoms and Reagan from Netsmart, and we’re talking about an amazing organization just doing incredible things. And it’s about diapers, but it’s not. It’s about a diaper bank, but it’s more than that. And as we come in and bring ourselves in for a landing on this conversation, Susan, you’ve done so much, seventeen years, you’re in millions of diapers. I thought we’re gonna be talking about a few hundred thousand. I didn’t think I wrote down thirty five million. Last year, we distributed six point seven million diapers out the door. That’s amazing. And and I and if I wrote my notes down right, there’s over two hundred diaper banks in the in the country. Over two hundred diaper banks. We all work a little different. Yeah. I think we’re one of the only ones that provide seventy five diapers. And my co executive director and I, when our team is like, maybe we need to bring back a little bit. Right. Maybe we don’t need to do so much. We’re like, we’re not gonna say no. Yeah. We’re gonna figure it out. So I that leads me to kind of the last part of our discussion, which is, so where are you going? What’s next? What’s the vision for Happy Bottoms? Well, and I guess the the, plus and the minus, is I’m glad we’re in our community. We’re serving a need. One in two families struggle to meet have diaper need. Think about that. That’s the three of us sitting here. It could be one of us. Right. It could be your neighbor. And I think that we would like to go wider and deeper. We know that in the in the hundred and twenty some counties in Missouri, the nine diaper banks in the state of Missouri serve about a hundred and two of those counties. There are still so many diaper deserts up north. So we have just, last year, we’re able to, find partner agencies in, Saint Joe and Nottoway County. We’re serving Lexington and Chillicothe in some of those areas. We’re now in Lawrence, serving through a pantry. We had a pantry in Leavenworth, but because of the government shutdown, they’ve kind of had to step back, but that pantry served military families. We are serving about seven to ten percent of the need in our community, so there are still so many more people that need our help. We always jokingly say, all we need is more time and more money. Yeah. And that’s one of the reasons why we’re having the conversation today is I think awareness is so critically vital. I’ll be candid. If it wasn’t for our women’s of Netsmart group and in that ARG resource group, I wouldn’t have heard about Happy Bottoms. I mean, and now, and when I first saw the donation drive and then started asking questions and having conversation with Reagan, said, we really need to do a podcast on that. So I guess one last question for the both of you, and and then I’ll wrap it up with some thoughts here in in just a second. But Reagan, to that person who’s sitting out there and thinking, is this really a need? You know, that is uncertain. Hey, it sounds interesting, but it sounds like it’s covered. What would you tell them? Well, I think I would tell them what you just said, which is we’re serving seven to ten percent of the needs, but you’re serving so many. And one in two families, everybody knows two families. So, I think this podcast for sure has illustrated that there is a need. I would ask Susan, could you outline for a person who’s never been involved and who doesn’t want to make a monetary donation by clicking a link? What what is the best way for them to get involved? How would they go about that with their group of girlfriends that they’re gonna come get together? Well, we would love, one, for them to go onto our website, into our volunteer, pillar, and, all of our volunteer opportunities are there. We are, I will say that we are a very popular group, because it is, we affectionately say we’re easy to get behind, and so a lot of groups like to come and volunteer. They, we have other opportunities. If, you are great at technology, we need people to help us on the computer to input those, or those families that come in. But I think one of the things that I don’t think we really touched on is that we, we were there for a reason, and, there is no stigma to ask for help. And we really would like to make sure that that families know we’re not gonna ask them to prove that they’re poor. There is no dignity in that. So if you need diapers, if you are a two parent household and you need just a hand up, not a handout, we’re asking for a hand up, you can go to one of our partner agencies and get diapers until your child turns four or becomes potty trained. And we also have a potty training curriculum that we will help families at the right time get their child potty trained to make sure that there is no neglect or abuse because it can get daunting to get your child potty trained. Hundred percent. And I think and we’ll include all that in the show notes. So, we just love saying show notes because it sounds really podcast like. But, to Reagan’s point is, if you’re looking to volunteer, want to we’ll include the, link out there, and some of the other opportunities that that can exist out there, whether it’s donating, whether it’s time, or whether it’s some of this technology. I may know some technology people that can help out with that. Yes. That would be great. And then just also, if you have a baby and the baby has outgrown their diapers and you have one diaper left, we will take that diaper. That one diaper because we will marry it with twenty three or twenty four other diapers and get it into the hands. Don’t throw it away. Susan, I’m so glad you said that because so many people believe that if a box of diapers is open that they cannot donate We will take Is that true? Everything. Yeah. Important. I mean, we need to get into the mother’s groups on Facebook and make sure that everybody is sharing your message because that is a really good source of untapped possibilities. It is. And it just, it helps one more person. Yes. Well, we’ll use this podcast to do that. I think that’s a great way to introduce the topic and opportunity to help. And I guess the last question for you, Susan, is what’s something about Happy Bottoms that you wish people knew or understood that most people don’t? You know, I think that, you know, it was birthed from a grassroots effort and we Elizabeth and I, my co executive director and I feel like we have a huge responsibility to stand on the shoulders of the of the of Jill, obviously, our our founder executive director, and then there were another set of executive directors before us, and we feel a huge obligation to make sure that Happy Bottoms remains viable in our community. The need is there, and we wanna make sure that we make that happen. But I wanna just take one second to go back to something that you said that I didn’t circle back, and you talked about, being in neighborhoods. And I was at, a conference a week ago, and the keynote speaker was talking about we’ve become very much of an I society. Oh, yeah. And that we need to get ourselves wrapped around the we society back. And she made a point of saying, you used to know your neighbors. Yeah. Can you tell me that you actually know your neighbors’ names? Yeah. And that was a huge eye opening thing for me. And going even back to John f Kennedy, not so much of what can my country do for me, but what can I do for my country? It’s as simple as as even if it’s not happy bottoms, there are so many wonderful nonprofits in our city that do great work. Well, love that you brought that up. Actually, the paper I wrote my thesis paper I wrote in school was, the breaking down of neighborhoods that was caused by the removal of sidewalks Bringing on garages. Because remember, all neighborhoods used to walk down sidewalk in their front porches. Exactly. We moved everything to the back of the house and I would agree with you. Most people just drive into their home and drive out and that connection is And I think it’s a great segue for bringing us in for a landing because that’s the experience and the opportunity that you’re giving people. Yeah, you’re providing diapers, But when teams come together, when families come together, you’re connecting, you’re meeting people, you’re having conversation. And I believe that’s one of the biggest things that we need today is more connection. It is. Because then it’s less about donation, it’s more how can I help you? And that’s how we’re going to break the stigma down. Anything that we missed that you wanted to that you or Reggie wanted to cover before I provided some thoughts? A lot. Yeah. You guys covered it all. Every time I was going to ask the next question, you already had it. So was scaring to be able to get dinner. Well, wanted to thank you, but you know, and I wanted to leave our audience with a thought. Today, we talked about a diaper bank, but we didn’t. We talked about donations, but we didn’t. What we talked about was community. We talked about need, the opportunity to lead from within and do something meaningful, to provide a difference to a person who’s looking for help, who wants to connect with others, but in a way that is complementary to the life that they’re pursuing to care for their child. And what we talked about today was so much more than diapers, but it’s about diapers. It’s about happy bottoms. It’s that every child would have the opportunity to grow up and be healthy, to have great well-being within that family. And I hope today, as you walked away, as you listened to our conversation, and as you walk away, you look within and say, How can I make a difference? What can I do to give of my time, talent, and treasure? Not just within this organization, but in anything and everything we do. That’s what Everyday Matters is about. Everyday Matters is a challenge to all of us. What can I do right here, right now to make a difference in someone’s life? And it doesn’t take a whole lot. It can be a diaper. It can be a volunteering activity. It can be joining a podcast. Susan, Reagan, thank you for joining us today. Thank you. And until next time, let’s all find a way to make everyday matter. You’ve been listening to Everyday Matters, a Netsmart podcast. Keep connected with us by subscribing to the show in your favorite podcast player. If you like what you’ve heard, please rate the show. That helps us keep sharing the stories that inspire our communities. Thanks for listening. Until next time.