Best of KC 2024: Helping hands craft a new kind of hero at Happy Bottoms

HappyBottoms volunteers hand out diapers at a mass distribution site. // Photo Courtesy of Happy Bottoms

Earlier this month, we published The Pitch’s annual Best of Kansas City issue. You can take a peek at the results of the readers’ poll here. The issue also included a list, compiled and written by our editorial staff, of some local people, places, and things that we thought clearly won 2024. We’ll be publishing these items online throughout November. 

Happy Bottoms—a local nonprofit organization that focuses on providing diapers to families in need—made quite the splash this year, helping thousands of families around the metro. Founded in 2009, the organization has continued to fill a growing need for families struggling to make ends meet. A hefty expense, it’s no surprise that, according to The National Diaper Bank Network, one in two families does not have the amount of diapers they need to keep their children clean and healthy.

Happy Bottoms is working to change this in Kansas City. This March, Happy Bottoms hit new heights, providing diapers to over 500,000 families in the Kansas City area. The donations came as a result of a partnership with KMBC 9 and The Kelly Clarkson Show, pushing awareness for diaper supply needs for local families struggling to make ends meet. 

“Diaper Madness” occurred alongside March Madness, and gave Happy Bottoms the edge it needed to increase their monthly allotments for families from 50 diapers to 75. Many families in the metro are forced to make hard decisions everyday, like whether to buy formula or diapers for their child. Even more concerningly, parents can be turned away from daycare centers for not providing enough diapers for their children, which deepens the financial burden as this consequently causes these same struggling parents to miss work.