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Diaper banker inspired by father's efforts to fight disease

NEW HAVEN, Conn. , Sept. 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Diaper Bank Network (NDBN) is getting information about COVID vaccines into hard-to-reach neighborhoods as a community partner with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' We Can Do This campaign. The effort comes as NDBN members have already increased by 86% the volume of diapers, period supplies, and other material basic necessities they provide, in response to the pandemic. 

For Northern Virginia Diaper Bank Program Director Susan Mullen , freeing communities from disease runs in the family. Mullen was born in Bolivia , where her father, C. Burton Keppler , in the 1950s went by car, by donkey, and by foot into the Andes to get smallpox vaccines to remote villages.

"When we heard about the We Can Do This campaign, we knew we had to join," said NDBN CEO Joanne Samuel Goldblum. 

Today Mullen is helping to organize a free vaccination clinic and leading an effort to get accurate information about COVID-19 vaccinations for young children into the community she serves.

NDBN got involved with We Can Do This in part because COVID vaccines are now recommended for children starting at six months of age, and getting information to families with young children is critical.

"Susan's family story points out that good health happens on the ground, where people live," said NDBN Board Chair Amy Daly Donovan . "That's why the We Can Do This campaign partnered with organizations that are already providing vital services, like NDBN. Whether it's putting vaccination information on packages of diapers or hosting events where people can get vaccines and testing kits, basic needs banks are doing work that simply could not be done by people who lack roots in the community."

"NDBN provides diapers and period supplies because these things are essential for good health and to participate fully in life," said NDBN CEO Joanne Samuel Goldblum . "It's outrageous that one in three families cannot afford the diapers their children need. It's also outrageous that things like internet access, insurance, or immigration status could keep a family from getting the health information they need. When we heard about the We Can Do This campaign, we knew we had to join."

In addition to NDBN and its Alliance for Period Supplies, the We Can Do This campaign relied upon community groups like AARP, the American Red Cross, Feeding America, Meals on Wheels, and the National Parent–Teacher Association to spread accurate information about COVID vaccines. The American Academy of Pediatrics and other prominent health care groups have supplied experts to speak at events around the country.

"More than 100 member basic needs banks have signed on to deliver COVID-19 vaccination information in their communities," said Goldblum. "NDBN's mission is to ensure that no one is deprived life's essentials–and accurate health information is certainly essential."

Susan Mullen was 18 months old when her parents, Burt and Dorothy Keppler , who were nurses, arrived in Bolivia on a medical mission with the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Burt would later go on to get a medical degree. During his three and a half years in Bolivia , he gave physicals to school children, pulled teeth, and treated various ailments. He also gave immunizations, including the smallpox vaccine, as part of the worldwide effort to eradicate the disease. 

"You do what you can, when you can, where you can," Mullen said her dad, who passed away in 2008, would often say. The effort to wipe out smallpox was huge, but the service of people like the Kepplers around the globe was vital to it. Whether he was navigating rivers on a raft laden with vaccines or driving narrow cliffside roads, Keppler was doing what he could.

Mullen said that her own life was shaped by her parents' example of service. The family left Bolivia when she was just six, after her father fell ill with hepatitis A. But their travels continued, with her parents serving communities in Mexico , Ukraine , and many other destinations. Mullen has often thought of her father during the We Can Do This campaign. "My dad would just be rolling up his sleeves and want to come up here and help."

The National Diaper Bank Network (NDBN) provides material basic necessities required to build the strong foundations all children, families, and individuals require to thrive and reach their full potential. We work in partnership with our Network of diaper banks, allied programs, donors, sponsors, and elected officials to end diaper need and period poverty in the United States .

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' COVID-19 public education campaign, We Can Do This, is a national initiative to increase public confidence in and uptake of COVID vaccines while reinforcing basic prevention measures such as mask wearing and social distancing.

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SOURCE National Diaper Bank Network

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