Tiffany LeVeque, Administrative Secretary of Laurel United Methodist Church, joins Community Voices to talk about the Diaper Depot, a monthly drive providing diapers, wipes, a book, and other supplies for families with babies and young children. LeVeque explains how the Diaper Depot works, what families can expect when they visit, and how you can get involved. The Diaper Depot takes place on the third Saturday of each month in the parking lot of Laurel United Methodist Church.
Melissa Snider:
Welcome to Community Voices, a production of NPR Illinois. I'm your co-host, Melissa Snider. In the studio today with me is Tiffany LeVeque. Tiffany is the Administrative Secretary at the Laurel United Methodist Church. How are you doing today, Tiffany?
Tiffany LeVeque:
I'm good, thanks for having me.
Melissa Snider:
Yeah, so tell me a little bit about your background.
Tiffany LeVeque:
I've always done secretarial work and I actually was placed at Laurel through a personnel staffing agency. And so I, they said, how do you feel about working for a church? I said, well, how would the church feel about me working for them? And it's been a great fit. The people at Laurel are amazing. They're welcoming. They're generous. This church does so much mission work in the community. It just blew my mind. And When I started, Diaper Depot was new. It was in its infancy. It was just getting going. And I would volunteer with them intermittently. And then here within the last year, the leader decided she wanted to step down from running it. And I didn't want to see that mission go away. And I loved it. I have been a part of it. The people are great. It's like a fast-paced environment. Every third Saturday we're out there just slinging diapers in cars. It's like working a shift at a restaurant.
Melissa Snider:
Have you always had a passion for giving back to or supporting your local community?
Tiffany LeVeque:
Whenever I can. And again, being at Laurel provided the opportunity for me to do so. My kids are grown. I have one that attends classes out here at UIS. He's going to be a senior. So I mean, I have a lot more free time now. So I like to be able to do this. And like I said, the folks at Laurel— They just foster a spirit of generosity and reaching out in the community to do well. And there's tons of missions at Laurel. Diaper Depot is just one of the many. The money that comes in the door there goes right back out. It's just a great church and it's a great group of folks. And Diaper Depot is a lot of fun.
Melissa Snider:
So you and your fiance recently took over the reins. Tell me how the Diaper Depot got started.
Tiffany LeVeque:
The idea was born in 2021 when three mothers in the congregation noticed that there was a gap in the Illinois Child Care Assistance There was no money for diapers, specifically for diapers. And the average cost is $80 per child per month, about 10 diapers a day. And in 2022, those moms were able to get together organized their first diaper drive, diaper depot, and they were able to serve 502 children just that first giveaway in 2022.
Melissa Snider:
Still running strong.
Tiffany LeVeque:
That's right.
Melissa Snider:
So this goes on every month.
Tiffany LeVeque:
Correct, every third Saturday from 9:45 a.m. until about 11:30 or when we run out, because sometimes we do clear the shelves. We're giving away about 430 packs of diapers when the shelves are cleared. We have 9:45 in the morning till 11:30 in the morning on that Saturday. We'll see anywhere from 150 to 200 cars come through the parking lot. And we don't ask them for any proof that they have a need for the diapers. We just say, you know, how many kids do you have? What size diapers do they have? Sometimes they don't know. So our volunteers are trained to, we've got charts and say, you know, how old are they, about what size clothing do they wear? And we're able to give them a pack of diapers per kid at least. And then also books and bird rags It is, yeah. They hit different stations in the parking lot. First one they're going to pull up to, they'll take their order pretty much and they'll get a pack of wipes and they're always unscented wipes because some folks, you know, some babies are sensitive and we want to make sure that we can give them as much as we can. So they get a pack of wipes, they take their order, they roll around a little bit further, they get books for any of the children in their family because we don't even ask them about the diapers at that point. We're like, how many kids do you have in your house? because we've got books for early readers, little older kids, little baby books. And we've actually programmed with the Word Up program in Springfield. It's A newer program. And they have given us over 200 books so far, just these past couple months to give away. They're so generous and wonderful. I can't say enough good things about them. And Stitch and Go Mission gives us handmade burp rags and bibs for babies. So if you get a newborn or a size 1 diaper, you get a handmade set of a burp rag and a bib for the baby. We give around maybe 50 or so of those out every giveaway and they keep us stocked. So they've been really great in helping. Again, the Diaper Depot brings people like that together. Like I just see people come in that want to help. I said this is one of the many missions at Laurel that make it a fun place to work and gives us the opportunity to do this charity. All the money that comes into the Diaper Depot via the congregation, the United Methodist Foundation is all used for buying diapers, buying wipes, We purchase from Sam's Club, from Target, from anywhere in town where we can get a good deal. I do the purchasing, diapers are shipped directly to the church. Everyone's A volunteer, no one's paid to be there. We run this mission in our spare time. It's just convenient that we're at the church as well so that we can. The church provides a space to store all of these diapers and we have about 8 racks that are floor to ceiling and we pack them with the diapers and they're rolling and so when we like to say that diaper depot is rolling along, it literally rolls out of the building and sets up in the parking lot. And so the congregation gives to the mission. In 2025, the congregation donated $16,000 towards this mission. Each giveaway takes between 2 to $3,000 to stock the shelves, depending on how much we have, what sizes are needed, because sometimes we're giving away the big sizes are all gone, and then the next giveaway, all the baby sizes are gone. So we do run out of some sizes, but even when people come through when we run out of their size, they don't leave empty-handed. They still get wipes if we have them. They'll get books. We give them handouts about things that are going on at the church for kiddos. They do a free vacation Bible school, which we love to see the Diaper Depot kids come in for that because they get to spend a few days. Their parents get a little bit of a break during the summer and it works for everybody. But like I said, they've always been so generous as well as the United Methodist Foundation has provided grants to the Diaper Depot to keep this going. And going forward, we're really looking into different community organizations or businesses or if anyone wants to partner with the Diaper Depot, all they have to do is reach out to the church. And any donations they give us, whether it's diapers, wipes, books, or even funds, goes directly back out into the community. 37% of households in Springfield make less than $50,000 a year. And that's a huge number.
Melissa Snider:
Absolutely. Families are spending more on groceries because SNAP benefits were cut too.
Tiffany LeVeque:
Yeah, I have 150,000 Illinoisans have lost their SNAP benefits since October of 2025.
Melissa Snider:
Yeah.
Tiffany LeVeque:
I'd hate to think about it how many of those households have babies?
Melissa Snider:
They could definitely use the assistance.
Tiffany LeVeque:
Absolutely. And diapers average for a child a year or younger, $80 a month. And that's $1,000 just in their first year of life. And we all know that babies wear diapers more than past the age of 1.
Melissa Snider:
Yes. What was it? And diapers per day.
Tiffany LeVeque:
On average per day. And that's to keep them comfortable. And that's the whole point of this whole mission. That's why it was founded because there's a need for that. And if we can give comfort to these babies, that's what's important. This isn't about whether the parents have a nice car, people come through, it doesn't matter. We want to give the gift of comfort to the babies and do the best that we can do with this mission. And the babies are helpless. And you know, unless you're drowning in diapers, you're always trying to save for them. And like I said, we can give them about, it averages out about three or four days worth of diapers that we give in one pack. And so it's able to help them save a little bit of money that week at least.
Melissa Snider:
So there's a lot going on behind the scenes. What does the preparation for the event look like?
Tiffany LeVeque:
We spread it out since we have the one giveaway a month. We have volunteers. We have a team of about 25 volunteers that are registered as volunteers. And there's something for everyone to do. I'll do the ordering, you know, maybe 3 weeks weeks before the event, the diapers will be coming in intermittently. I'll call my volunteers. All I have to do is put out an e-mail that says the diapers are here and then they all show up. They show up in droves and like they're tripping over each other to beat one another to be able to do it and to put everything away. And then everything is already stopped. I mean, I have folks that will organize the books that they put them in genres like little baby books and middle books. They love doing this and they'll spend an afternoon back in the diaper depot room just sorting through books, unboxing diapers, stocking the shelves with wipes. And so the day of the giveaway, we're ready to go. In the morning, everybody shows up early. I open up the church. We've got light refreshments the past couple ones that's been so hot. We have a cooling station that I set up for everyone. And then they get to work. They start grabbing carts, start pulling them up. About 10 minutes before we start the giveaway, I give the green light. We have a prayer and everybody goes outside and then we hit it. And it's like a shift at a restaurant. Everybody has their spot and they know what they're doing. But it runs so smoothly. I really am amazed. And that's a big reason why I didn't want to see it go away. because this is something that's doing good in the community. And we can grow this, we can partner with people. We've got plenty of volunteers, but what we always need is funds, because like I said, between 2 to $3,000 per giveaway. And we've been blessed to have the congregation be so generous with their donations and the United Methodist Foundation. And Stitch and Go gives us things. The Word Up people are giving us books, no charge. And you can see them on Facebook. They've been posting a little bit about Diaper Depot and giving away their books because they like to come and see the people. And the volunteers will put a book in someone's hand, like, can I take your picture? And it's a really high vibe thing. And it's everybody has a great time. And it seems like it runs itself sometimes. I don't feel like I have to do too much to supervise these folks.
Melissa Snider:
I mean, the amount of teamwork that goes into it, this is teamwork to its fullest form between all the volunteers from everybody you partner with to donations, the community coming together and donating.
Tiffany LeVeque:
So far this year, we've given away over 2,800 packs of diapers and we've seen over 1000 cars come through. We just had a giveaway, so my total was 963 and then we saw 114 cars this last giveaway because it was so hot and different things going on around town. It'll be busier some months than other months, but it was just, I mean, it was amazing how many people, how many hands we've touched, how many little babies are comfortable because of Laurel and the Diaper Depot. When I stepped into this, I was just amazed because everyone has their job and they know what they're doing. I don't have to do much. I can do the ordering. I handle the logistics. I do as much as I can to advertise and to get the word out so that we have a lot of folks coming through, which makes it even more fun because the busier we are, the more fun we have.
Melissa Snider:
And it's so rewarding, I'm sure.
Tiffany LeVeque:
The people are so grateful. I mean, you all, you know, you have all kinds of folks coming through, but they are all so grateful. And at the end of the giveaway, you feel good. I mean, you feel like you've done so much. something good. And that's the only reward that any of the volunteers and myself that we even want. This is our way to do good in the community and more people need to do that.
Melissa Snider:
Absolutely. Tell me, what's the biggest challenge in keeping the program running?
Tiffany LeVeque:
It's going to be funding again. We're lucky right now. The previous coordinator that I inherited this program from did a lot of fundraising before she left to make sure that we would be good for a certain period of time. And after the first of the year, we're going to be writing for grants. We're going to be asking for donors. And again, anyone in the community that wants to, even if you just want to drop a pack of diapers off at Laurel, that helps. And you can rest assured that pack of diapers is going in the hands of somebody who needs it. And I said funding is going to be the biggest issue in the beginning because we have, Laurel is generous enough to house us, we have our volunteers, we have our carts, we have all the different components to keep it going. It's the product that just rolls out the door and just the volume of diapers we give away seems to get bigger and bigger each month.
Melissa Snider:
That's the goal, right?
Tiffany LeVeque:
Yes, it is.
Melissa Snider:
Yeah. Can you tell me about a moment or an interaction that's really stuck with you since you've been involved? Well.
Tiffany LeVeque:
I could say when my fiance and I started this, you know, he said, well, you know, what about the people that might come through the got nice cars and all, I said, just do a giveaway. Tell me how you feel at the end of it. And at the end of it, he's like, okay, yeah, I don't care. He said, this is great. I feel great. The people were so generous, so wonderful and thankful. And that was something that stuck with me. I do have a testimonial from a church member. She likes to talk about the diaper depot and everyone at Laurel, if you get them talking about diapers, this is where they're gonna go with it. But she had wrote a testimony and I'll go ahead and read that to you. It says, I'm a strong advocate for Diaper Depot. I know the extreme cost and the impact that makes on a young family's budget. So whenever I see a young family, I ask them if they have heard of the program. Today I was at Walmart on South 6th Street and a young mother of an infant and a toddler approached me and said she wanted to thank me for telling her about the Diaper Depot. She said that when she was pregnant with her little one, I asked her if she had heard about this mission work. She said no, so I filled her in. She was so very thankful. She said that they go every month and it is so helpful to their family and to her. I received a generous hug from her and was introduced to both of her beautiful children. She struggled with English, but it was definitely getting her point across. So very happy that I was able to approach her and share with her the wonderful mission work that is done at Laurel United Methodist Church. Keep up the good God work, ladies and gentlemen. And I said, they're just, you couldn't even name them all of the wonderful feedback we've gotten.
Melissa Snider:
That's what keeps you going. You know you're doing a great mission. You know you are with the feedback.
Tiffany LeVeque:
It's instantly rewarding. You show up and there's 100 degrees, these last two giveaways and 100% humidity and everyone's just drenched and you know we're taking shifts and we're going in and cooling off and everybody works as a team and at the end of the day everybody feels great. I mean, that's just what it's all about.
Melissa Snider:
If somebody wants to make a donation to go towards diapers, how would somebody go about doing that?
Tiffany LeVeque:
Well, you can contact the church directly. Laurel's phone number is the 217-525-1866. And I am the administrative secretary and we run on not a huge staff. So I'm going to answer the phone when you call and I'll be able to give you whatever information you want. You can also drop off diapers, wipes, books anytime. The church is open normal business hours Monday through Friday. I'm there as well. So they just need to contact the church. And again, they can also e-mail me if they'd like. And my e-mail is going to be tleveque at laurelumchurch.org. It's a big one. And if you can't remember that, go to our website. Just type in Laurel United Methodist Church, Springfield. I'm right there under staff and it has my contact information. And definitely reach out if you want to help because there's always going to be a need for this.
Melissa Snider:
If people want to further their involvement, are you accepting new volunteers?
Tiffany LeVeque:
The parking lot can get kind of small. So, you know, we usually will have about a dozen volunteers that'll show up. But anyone that wants to come into Laurel and help can contact me and I can find a way for you to help. like whether you're going to stock shelves for us, whether you do want to come in for a giveaway, whether you want to give a case of water to the volunteers or, there's always something to do. You want to run the recycling for us, take the diaper boxes over to Lake Area and dump them in the recycling because that's what we do with all of that. But there's always something for people to do at the diaper depot.
Melissa Snider:
Anything helps.
Tiffany LeVeque:
That's right.
Melissa Snider:
You can find your contact information, phone number, e-mail on that website?
Tiffany LeVeque:
On the Laurel website. Yeah, you just look up Laurel United Methodist Church, Springfield, Illinois. It'll pop up. There's a staff drop down page. on there you'll find me and my contact information or you can just get in your phone and get our phone number and give me a call and as long as the office is open I'll be answering the phone. Our next giveaway is going to be Saturday September 19th and we start at 945. We ask people not to arrive too early if you want to come 5 minutes early or so because we don't want to be backed up on the South Grand Avenue because then no one's going to like us very much. We're stopping traffic but you just come on in you don't have to provide any proof of need. We will send grandparents, friends, Anyone even if someone that needs diapers, come in, get their size. We will be more than happy to give you whatever you need to give to them because that's what this is about. And we don't ask any questions, you know?
Melissa Snider:
Awesome. Once again, in the studio today with me is Tiffany LeVeque, Administrative Secretary at the Laurel United Methodist Church. Tiffany, thank you so much for coming in to talk about your mission with me today.
Tiffany LeVeque:
Thank you so much.
Melissa Snider:
Community Voices is events you might have missed and conversations with neighbors, artists, and area businesspeople. You can suggest a guest or comment at communityvoices@nprillinois.org. Get to know your neighbors with Community Voices weekdays at noon and 10 p.m., Saturdays from 5 to 7 p.m. and on demand at nprillinois.org.
