She started a diaper bank out of her apartment, and she was filled with need.

When Lydia O’Regan started the Halifax Diaper Bank, she thought she would help a few people a week.

She was wrong.

Interest in his grassroots projects has increased. She is now delivering diapers to about five families a day, each sending her desperate pleas for help as they struggle to make ends meet.

“I gave birth to a woman last week whose baby was running around the house naked,” O’Regan said. “I hear of women using pillows and towels and doing everything they can to get to the payday.”

O’Regan had founded the diaper bank just three months earlier. She thought it would be a great way to collect leftover diapers and open boxes that people can’t donate.

In that short time, she has helped hundreds of people and distributed thousands of diapers.

“They’re deciding between basic needs, toys for Christmas, food, gas fare, diapers for their kids.”

O’Regan said she quickly learned that many people seeking help did not have access to transportation. So she has set up 11 drop off spots in HRM, enlisting friends and family to help drop off or pick up donations.

They also include her cousin, Rita-Claire LeBlanc, who is in the final weeks of her maternity leave. She said becoming a parent and seeing the cost of baby supplies was eye-opening.

LeBlanc said she was lucky she didn’t need help, but she knows several families who needed help.

“Every mom, every parent should not have to stress about where the front sleeve of their diaper is coming from,” LeBlanc said.

“Lydia is doing a lot with the diaper bank, so whatever little help we can, we are ready whenever we can.”

Before the Halifax Diaper Bank, people could turn to family resource centers or some food banks for help.

Chebucto Family Center said diapers and baby formula are the most requested items right now, with demand having increased significantly over the past few years.

It distributes about ten diapers at a time to balance donations with demand. In some cases, this will last for about two days.

As long as O’Regan has stock, she’ll give families an entire box. If families need a specific brand or size, she calls on Facebook, using her growing network to secure supply.

“This is a passion project for me. It’s something that’s near and dear to my heart.”

Halima Marjani could tell many stories about the difference donations make.

Marjanie is an immigrant support worker who helps vulnerable newcomers to Canada. He said many of them are struggling to pay their bills while starting their new lives.

“It’s very stressful. For food, they can manage things. For clothing, they have a lot of organizations that give out free clothes. But for diapers, it’s one of the (biggest) things they can’t manage.”

Last week, Marjani picked up boxes of diapers for families in Syria and Ukraine. He said one family has a teenage son who is disabled and needs a special type of diaper.

Marjani reached out to O’Regan, who immediately had a solution.

“She gave me a big box for a couple of weeks and I gave it to this family. (The mother) was crying when she saw the big box I brought her.”

O’Regan has no plans to expand beyond Facebook, and has no intention of becoming a registered charity.

She has a full-time job and a two-year-old son, so she’s trying to keep the effort manageable.

She keeps diapers in the master bedroom of her Halifax apartment. Now it is filled from floor to ceiling with donations that will soon be pouring out the door.

“It fills my cup, so it makes it easier.”

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