The Diaper Bank of North Carolina is starting to reopen its Triad Branch warehouse in Winston-Salem after a nearby chemical fire forced them to close their doors early last month.
The Greater Triad Branch is located beside the Winston Weaver fertilizer plant. The organization says their building on Indiana Avenue sustained roof damage after the recent fire at the Weaver site.
Over a million diapers and hygiene products had to be set aside and have been off-limits ever since. The Diaper Bank is still waiting for them to be tested for contamination. And it's unclear when the roof will be fully repaired.
Michelle Old, CEO and founder of the organization, says there's been a lot of cleaning at the site and a portion of the warehouse is now reopened. The Diaper Bank continues to send products from its Durham location to serve the Triad.
“Everything is in limbo," she says. "And every day that we wait means that we have to put funds towards buying more product and at the same time gas prices have gone on, so we're bringing in diapers every single week to serve the community and that is costing us twice as much as it did before.”
Old says they currently need more space but are locked into their lease for another year.
She says they're still looking for more volunteers to help package diapers and are accepting donations.
The Diaper Bank of North Carolina distributes over 100,000 diapers monthly in the Triad, which means they serve about 2,000 babies each month.
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