DRAPER, Utah — The Ikea parking lot in Draper was full Friday morning, but furniture shopping was the last thing on the minds of those who showed up to the popular store.
Those who attended the event were there to build houses, not with brick and stucco, but instead with thousands of dollars worth of diapers.
Ten home builders participated in HomeAid Utah's 2024 Diaper Drive, where they used boxed diapers to build at least 80% of their designs.
"This is the one event that every year I kind of just stand over in the corner at some point and think this is amazing," said Victor Velivis, founder and executive director of the Utah Diaper Bank.
Every builder brought their A game.
"We went with the circus theme this year, so again, trying to really make it entertaining for the families that will be coming later," said HomeAid board president Holly Waddington.
From SpongeBob to the Olympics, the themes were abundant, but as fun as the diaper-building was, participants took part for a much bigger cause as a study showed one in two U.S. families can't afford enough diapers.
"We are making a difference in the lives of parents," said HomeAid executive director Brian Diggs. "I've had so many parents say to me, 'My kids finally got out of diapers, which means I got a raise!'"
Following the Draper event, the diaper boxes are donated to the diaper bank, where they are distributed to low income families across the state through places like the food bank and local shelters.
"We do it because nobody else does, there's no safety net program that covers diapers," added Velivis.
The Utah Diaper Bank plans to distribute 1.9 million diapers to local communities this year
"Every baby deserves a clean diaper," Velivis said. "It prevents diaper rash by being able to change diapers when they need to, they can now use nursery and daycare."
HomeAid in Utah hopes to collect 1 million diapers to help Utah families during this year's drive
"I used to say I can't ever imagine you guys making 500,000 or (700,000), I've given up because they always hit their goal every year," added Velivis.
And Diggs said it doesn't stop here.
"Eventually, we'd love to support the diaper bank so they don't have to go out and raise money," he said. "HomeAid just does it all for them, so they just have to go out and distribute those diapers."
Anyone who missed out on Friday's event can still help by donating diapers to the Utah Diaper Bank.
