Carolina Herrera, 22, of Paterson, and her daughters, Valentina, 2, and Alina, 1, attended Amerigroup's "Diaper Day" event in Paterson last Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022. Herrera said she was thankful for the free diapers, "especially now that the cost has skyrocketed."

I still remember how much money I used to spend on diapers for my kids and I cringe. It really wasn’t all that long ago but the truth is if I had a baby now, I’d be spending way more.

Thanks to inflation, diapers — like so many other items — are much more costly. Disposable diaper prices have risen about 22% over the past year, according to the latest data from NielsenIQ. The retail analytics firm reports the price of cloth diapers has also risen by 13%.

For many cash-strapped working families, this means the basic necessity is now much harder to afford at the checkout line. Amerigroup, a nationwide provider of Medicaid and Medicare services, wants to alleviate some of that hurt, said Wanda Brauner, a community relations representative at Amerigroup.

For the past two weeks, the organization has been hosting a series of diaper giveaway events across the country. In N.J., she said, the group held eight “Diaper Day” events in different towns, including Englewood, Jersey City, and Perth Amboy — giving away more than 600 cases of diapers.

Since the start of the pandemic, representatives at diaper banks have said demand there has also surged.

Brauner said the idea behind Amerigroup’s “Diaper Days” is simple: “to help the people in our communities who need them.”

“[Amerigroup] hosted several food distribution events and at those events, our members and other people in the community were coming up to us, the representatives, and asking about diapers. ‘Will you be giving away diapers today?’ or ‘Do you have any diapers you can give us?’ so, we identified the need and here we are.”

By “here,” she means at a lively “Diaper Day” in Paterson last week, where Brauner and her Amerigroup crew were giving away two 25-diaper packs, in sizes newborn to 5, to parents who walked in with a smile and left with an even bigger one.

Paterson resident Shayla Torres, 31, a mother-of-five, was one of those parents.

“Diapers are just so incredibly expensive now that any help, anything like this, is so welcome,” she tells me while she holds her 9-month-old, a sweet and very squirmy baby boy named Ivan, in her arms.

Shayla Torres and her 9-month-old Ivan benefited from Amerigroup's Diaper Days giveaway in Paterson (Daysi Calavia-Robertson | NJ Advance Media)

So, exactly how much do diapers cost now?, I ask her. “Well, I usually spend about $45 on a box and it only lasts me about a week, a week and a half at best,” Torres said. “So, yes, like I said, it’s a big help.”

Carolina Herrera, 22, is at the event with her two young daughters, Valentina, 2, and Alina, 1. They’re both still in diapers, she tells me. “On an average day, I can easily use 10 diapers, sometimes more,” Herrera said in Spanish.

She found out about the giveaway through her daughters’ pediatrician, who suggested she attend. “It’s an item that I’m constantly running to the store for,” she said. “And of course, it’s pricey ...I normally spend about $100 on a case of about 80 diapers.” And before you know it, they’re gone, she says.

Diapers vary in cost, but what Herrera says she’s spending on diapers, sounds about right: According to Investopedia, experts say parents should budget at least $1000 for diapers and $450 for wipes for the first year alone. That’s about $120 a month.

Aside from diapers, each family received a case of baby wipes and was told about other community resources available to them. Several Amerigroup “partners,” including Several Sources Shelters, a social services organization based in Ramsey, and the Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern New Jersey, a nonprofit organization in Newark, had set up booths at the event.

“What we’ve found is that many times people just don’t know what resources are available to them or how to access them,” said Brauner of Amerigroup. “So, that’s also why we’re here ...to help inform them and make that connection with the different organizations that can also provide them with direction or assistance.”

The last Diaper Day event held by Amerigroup took place last Thursday, Sept. 28, in Perth Amboy. But the group hopes to host another string of diaper giveaways next year. For other community events hosted by the health care company, visit Facebook.com/AmerigroupCorporation/events.

Daysi Calavia-Robertson may be reached at dcalavia-robertson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Instagram at @presspassdaysi or Twitter @presspassdaysi.

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