Carmel Dems Diaper Drive Helps 740 Families Afford Essentials

If you’re a lifelong Democrat, you’ve probably asked yourself what we can do about the state of our country every day since November 6, 2024.  From our past experience and collective trauma, we knew the incoming administration would wreak havoc on our state of mind while systematically destroying the pillars of our democracy, immobilizing the federal government, and tearing immigrant families apart. Choosing not to wallow in things so far from my grasp in Washington, I chose to focus on issues and causes closer to home. Just a Democrat surrounded by other Democrats doing what we could, doing good for our friends and neighbors.

After the election last fall, when a group of Carmel Dems attended our monthly volunteer day at the Indiana Diaper Bank, we were all still in shock, but we, along with other likeminded individuals, sorted and packed diapers. Half of all Hoosier families struggle to afford diapers. Let me share that statistic again: 1 in 2 families in Indiana can’t afford a basic necessity that every infant and child needs for health and well-being. The Indiana Diaper Bank provided  7 million diapers in 2024 to other nonprofits and distributed them throughout the state. As of June 2025, the Indiana Diaper Bank has already distributed 5 million diapers, which demonstrates our state’s growing need, as both state and federal budget cuts trickle down, disproportionately affecting children and low-income families.

Half of all Hoosier families struggle to afford diapers.

In February, at our Carmel Democratic Club business meeting, we decided to expand on the idea of DemsDoGood as a way to expand civic engagement and community outreach. I immediately thought of our work at the Indiana Diaper Bank and how we could marry those objectives. The inaugural Diaper Drive was born to bring awareness to the great need for diapers in Indiana while holding a community service project that engages our neighbors to take action.

On Saturday, June 28, we had a successful day of camaraderie and Dems Doing Good. Our efforts collected 13,767 diapers and 3,284 wipes; these items will be able to serve 550 families in Indiana. We had monetary donations from Carmel of $1,190, which will purchase another 4,760 diapers and assist another 190 families. Hamilton County Democrats from Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville, and Westfield participated in this effort, and we had more volunteers than an organizer can dream of. We even had drive-by engagements of people who ran home to get diapers to donate, and some newsletter subscribers who wanted to know what Hamilton County Democrats are all about.  We were hosted by Epic Coffee in Carmel, and they were epic from start to finish. I would like to thank all the wonderful volunteers who showed that they share our values and our mission of doing good.

We encourage all of you to figure out what sort of DemsDoGood project you’d like to get involved with, because while we can’t solve everything that’s coming out of Washington, we can provide diapers for children; we can ease a family’s burden; we can be the good in our community.

Your friend in good trouble,

Elizabeth Dembinski

Carmel Democratic Club VP

Hamilton County Diaper Drive Coordinator