With just a little spare time, you can greatly increase our diaper inflow by helping to secure a new Diaper Drop Location.
A Diaper Drop Location is simply a store, school, or office where we place a box, into which packages of clean diapers can be dropped, for collection by a Los Angeles Diaper Bank volunteer.
Helping to secure a new location is simple! Here’s how it works:
- Find a location
- Talk to someone in charge
- Get a commitment
- Pass on the location to LADB!
Find a location
First, you’ll need to find a location that would be good for drop-off. This is usually a high-traffic area, which is visible to a number of people every day. As we mentioned above, you should first think of any local businesses that have a busy lobby area. Schools are also good, and your own office, or a government office, could also be a good prospect. Brainstorm a few locations, check out their business hours, and make a list of who you’re going to try!
Before you go, be sure to have the following:
- The Diaper Drop Request Letter (.pdf)
- A small pad and pen (to write down contact information
- Your list of potential locations
Talk to someone in charge
For best results, you’ll need to find someone at the location who can “make decisions.” Unless a business is family owned, generally you’ll need to ask for a manager or owner. At a school, talk to the principle or other office staff. At an office of any type, simply ask for a manager.
Once you talk to someone in charge, be sure to ask for their full name and phone number. It’s probably easiest just to ask for a card, which should have all their contact information on it.
Get a commitment
Bring with you the Diaper Drop Request Letter, which has information about what we’re asking-for. You will probably want to go ahead and read it ahead of time, of course, so you have a good idea of what’s needed, just in case the manager asks you before you have a chance to offer the letter!
As you can see, from the letter, we’re asking for the location to host a medium-sized box, in their lobby. From time-to-time, we will drop by to check the box for diapers, but they will also receive a phone number to call for a pick-up, just in case the box gets full.
Be direct, and don’t waste the manager’s time! Explain what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, and ask them directly if they will host the box for this critically important project.
If you receive a commitment to host a box, write down the manager’s name, their contact information, the location or business name, the address, and their normal business hours – we’ll need all of this to drop-off the box, and post on our website. (If the manager doesn’t want anyone to call them directly, ask them for the general location phone number where people can call for directions or updated business hours.)
If you are turned-down, be sure to at least get the manager’s name and contact information. If they ask why, advise that you’d like to pass on to the Diaper Bank that this location does not want to host a box, so that we don’t keep asking. If you feel that you’re being treated unfairly, or that someone is acting in a discriminatory fashion, please pass on this information to us immediately!
Pass on the location to LADB!
Simply enough, you now just need to pass on this information to our staff! Use the contact form (link to the right), and provide us with all the information you wrote-down.
We’ll bring a decorated box to the location within 10 days.
Thanks!
Your help is of great importance to use, and we can’t thank you enough for the effort!
