Cathy Battle: Keeping Families in Need Supplied with Diapers

Welcome to Disability Matters with your host Joyce Bender. All comments, views, and opinions expressed on the show are solely those of the host, guest, and callers. Now the host of Disability Matters, here's Joyce Bender.

Hi everyone, welcome to the show. To everyone in the United States, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. We all have so much to be thankful for. And guess what? I'm thankful for all of you. I'm thankful for my listeners and how, uh, dedicated you have been. I know a lot of you listen on demand, and I hope you share that news with others to listen to the show, because I'm trying my hardest to change the view of people with disabilities, which takes me to around the world, from Russia to Australia. We have 27 countries with listeners, and it is growing. You know, this is my 21st year on the air. Next year, going on 22. And these listeners around the world, you are absolutely phenomenal. And I always say it doesn't matter where you live in the world. You know, I live with epilepsy, so a seizure in Africa is the same as one of my seizures. I'm very blessed that medication has controlled me from having seizures, but you know what I mean. A disability is a disability. You are my brothers and sisters. And please, if you know anyone English speaking, spread this news, spread this news. And Richard Roberts in Brazil with the State Department, shout out to you. Gang Young Cho, who is in South Korea, special shout out to you and all of the countries that I have visited. And there she is, Miss Yoshiko Dart. Yoshiko, a shout out to you. You know I love you, Yoshiko. And you remember why I mentioned her? Why? Because her husband, the late Justin Dart Jr., was considered the general with the ADA. You know, he and Yoshiko went around the country like 5 times before the ADA was signed, meeting with disability rights leaders, working with them to get behind the Americans with Disabilities Act. Now, I ask you, how many of you, or how many people, you, because you're in the disability world, but if I just went out on the street interviewing someone, hey, who's Justin Dart? Not a lot of people would know, and that's why I'm talking about him and have been for over 6 years on every single show. So, Yoshiko, I love you. And my sponsor is Highmark, and they have been the lead sponsor, and I just so love Highmark. And guess what? In a few weeks, to start off the year, David Holmberg, the CEO of Highmark, will be on the show as my guest. So I say again, thank you, Highmark. And I am so excited about our show today because I have an entrepreneur and a civil rights leader. And guess what? The 2024 Athena Award winner. How do you like that? That I am lucky enough to get Kathy Battle, the executive director of the Western Pennsylvania Diaper Bank and co-founder of the diaper bank. Kathy, it is a pleasure to have you on the show. I love to highlight Pittsburgh people doing great things, and, uh, you are But around the world, people always want to know, oh, that was great. Tell me about that person. You know, they hear what the person has to say, but it's not like knowing the person. So tell us a little bit about yourself. You know, where you grew up, your family, your family today. Let's hear about you.

Hi, Joyce Bender. And yeah, and thank you so much for having me on today. And thank you for everything that you do in the community and around the world. So what about me? I was born in a little town called Lima, Ohio. I have one sister, um, I have— but my mom had 12 brothers and sisters, so I have a lot of aunts and uncles to help that helped with our raising. I married my high school sweetheart, which makes us married 45 years this year.

Wow, congratulations.

Yes, um, we have 2 children and 7 grandchildren. That keeps us very busy.

Wow.

My husband pastors a church here in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and that's why we moved here, for his calling. And I was— I am still— is a respiratory therapist by trade. So when we moved to Pittsburgh And so when he went into this parish, he worked with some mothers and grandmothers and in an after-school program and just asked that one question: what is it that can be done for them that no one else is doing? And diapers came up.

I have a saying, I have a saying, Kathy, one man or one woman, one decision. That one decision has changed all these lives of not only the women but the baby's health. That is amazing. What is the name of the parish?

Um, New Life Temple Baptist Church, and it's in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Okay, um, and so everyone should check into that. I want to say I'm probably one of the few people that know a lot about Lima, Ohio. I know. Yeah, here's why. Procter Gamble. Procter Gamble's manufacturing site is Lima, Ohio, and I even had breakfast at— I think it's called— is it Lombardo's? Is that it? Yeah, yeah, that place. Okay, you go down in a basement, um, and I had one of the best breakfasts I've ever had right there. Uh, but that's why I know Lima, Ohio, and it is small.

You're right, it is very small.

Yes. Well, I'm— we're lucky that you came here. I'm happy to hear that. And Athena! Athena Award winner. I am so honored to have you with us today, and I'm sure that Audrey Russo will be excited. But first, tell everyone what it is. What is the Athena Award? And then tell everyone— I have a good idea because I was there— but what you thought when they called your name.

Oh boy. So the Athena Award is a leadership award for someone that demonstrates excellence in their profession, community service, and really to help support women. And that's what we do a lot of at The Diaper Bank is we support a lot of women, a lot of moms with babies. But to be recognized for such an award, it's just amazing. And it just lets me know that whatever you're doing or what— whenever you're doing good work, there's someone out there watching. You know, you might not think they're watching, but there's someone watching and seeing the services that you do or the help that you give to other people. And it's just amazing to even be recognized for doing something that everyone needs to do, and that is to help someone that's less fortunate than what you are.

Well, there are Athena Awards, you know, in other cities, but I've got to tell you, that is a very prestigious honor. Like, where we are both headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, all the corporations know about the Athena Award, and here you are. So, yeah, so what did it mean to you to receive this award?

You know, it meant— it just let me know, first of all, I was honored and appreciative of everyone that recognized the work that I do in the community. And just to receive such an award when you're doing the work that you do and you don't even think about that you're doing something so meaningful or something so great, you know, I know that blessing other people means that I'm going to be blessed. And so the work that I'm doing, I didn't expect to get any type of recognition or to be honored like that, but it's definitely very much appreciative, um, of the hard work that I have done and that I am still doing to help out other women. And, you know, someone had to lift me up. And so why not lift up someone else? And so, and that's how I think about it. So very much appreciative and just honored that people would think that I'm worthy of such an award.

And you are. And I am so excited that you won this award. Just as you said, sometimes you may be doing something and wonder, does anyone notice? Well, Yes, we all noticed. Yeah, and that is why you received that award. Hey, if you're just joining us, wow, are you in for a treat. We're talking to Kathy Battle, the co-founder of the Western Pennsylvania Diaper Bank, right here in the best city in America. And of course, that's Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. And, um, I'm so excited. To hear more about all of this. And don't forget one other thing— Athena Award winner. And with all that, we're going to get ready to go to break, commercial break. If you just joined us, we're talking to Kathy Battle, and we will be right back. Don't go away.

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Um, you're listening to Disability Matters. Now please welcome back the host of Disability Matters. Here's Joyce Bender.

Well, welcome back. We are talking to Kathy Battle, the co-founder of Western Pennsylvania Diaper Bank and Athena Award winner. Just a true champion. Uh, I'm all about giving back. Give and it shall be given unto you. So I am all about giving back. You know, I always say a great leader serves. It's not about you. And here is someone that takes that seriously. So, Kathy, for our listeners, what caused you to start the Western Pennsylvania Diaper Bank.

What happened? So as I mentioned previously, it was my husband's idea after he was working in the after-school program and he talked with the mothers and grandmothers and just asked that question, what is it that can be done for you that no one else is doing? And he said they all said diapers like one voice. And he came home and he said, they need diapers. And I said, I don't think there's anybody that help with diapers. Everyone has to buy their own diapers. And he said, there has to be someone because they need diapers. And looking and searching, we could not find anyone to give out diapers. So he told the church, he says, we're going to collect some diapers and we're going to give them away community day. Sure enough, we collected 3,000 diapers, which we thought was a lot of diapers. And we got them all packaged and we didn't give them all out. And I'm like, why didn't the moms come for these diapers? So I started doing research and I found out that very same year in 2012 that there was a national movement of diaper banks being formed. So I called them up and I'm like, hey, you know, we, we tried to give away diapers and the moms didn't come. They said, that's because you need to raise awareness. Moms don't know that there's any— there's help out there to help them with diapers. You need to go out and tell the story that 1 in 3 families are struggling to provide diapers for their babies. In other words, they cannot keep them clean, healthy, and dry. You need to tell that story and that there's no government assistance. So my husband and I started networking like 3 days a week telling that story. And all you would hear is, well, there has to be some government assistance. Don't they use WIC? Don't they use SNAP? No, there's no government assistance. These moms are taking money from their household to buy diapers for their babies. So that means they're taking food money that they can buy for use for food, money to pay a utility bill, all of that to buy diapers. And if they don't have the money to buy diapers, this baby's sitting in diapers for hours, which gets them severe diaper rash or urinary tract infection. I don't know about any of you, but I've seen a baby go to the hospital with a urinary tract infection because that baby was in diapers for long periods of time.

That's terrible.

It's terrible. It really is. And you know, it's— and it's called a silent crisis because people didn't know. So in your city or in your community, once you raise awareness, no one has a problem giving to babies.

Yeah. And you know what? I have to tell you, I didn't know.

Yeah.

I did not know. So if you're listening, you're saying, oh, I'm embarrassed I didn't know. Don't be, because I didn't know. I mean, I didn't know that it's 1 in 3. I mean, that's absolutely terrible. I'm even trying to envision, I have to ask this question, I mean, what do they do? If they don't have diapers, what do they do?

So sometimes they go without, or they, moms have dried them out and try to reuse them, or just let that baby sit in there. There's nothing, you know, yeah.

Oh my God, talk about, uh, a way to get an infection. And I hope if you're right here in Pittsburgh that your heart is breaking hearing that. That's one of the reasons I had Kathy on. I thought you— when I read her bio, I couldn't believe it. Couldn't— I went to her website, I couldn't believe it. So, um, you should make a donation. Anyone listening, you should make a donation. Kathy, what is your website?

It's wpadiperbank.org.

wpadiperbank.org. I mean it. You know, you may not have this problem because you're financially fine, but imagine if you didn't. I mean, it's horrifying.

Yes. And yeah, and I always say, you might not have that problem, but somewhere in your— somewhere around you in your territory, if it's someone at work, if it's someone at church, even in your neighborhood, someone's having that problem.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you are, uh, right here in Pittsburgh How can someone help you? Of course, one way is to make a donation at wpadiperbank.org. Mm-hmm. And by the way, can't you go to the website and just make a donation?

Yes, you can. Just go right to the website and find where it says donate. You can donate as little as $10, which will help diaper one baby for a month.

Wow.

You can do that. Yeah, you can also come volunteer at our warehouse and help us repackage the diapers to get them to our partner agencies. You can hold a diaper drive. When there's one, I mean, anywhere from 1 to 20 people or 40 people, you can hold a diaper drive and every pack of diaper helps. So there's none too small or none too large. We accept everything. We have diaper drives. With schools, churches, business offices, hospitals, anywhere where there's a gathering of people, you can hold a diaper drive, birthday parties, baby showers. We've had a number of diaper drives and like I said, every little bit helps.

What if someone's listening right now and they say, I'm gonna do that, I'm gonna do that. How do they get those diapers to you?

You either— they bring them to us, and if they're too far, we can pick them up. So depending on how many they have, because sometimes people have large diaper drives and they can't get them into their vehicles and we have to pick them up. So yeah, either they can bring them to us or, you know, we will make arrangements to get those diapers. We also have drop-off locations if it's not that many. You can look on our website and find a drop-off location and drop the diapers off, and then we pick them up from that location.

Okay. Um, wow, that is really something. Now, is it a specific type of diaper? Because I also saw that you provide other, other thing, other napkins, napkins for, for women. Is that correct? I assume that's what it was.

That's, that is correct. And no, there's no specific type of diaper. We, you know, anything, we accept any kind of diaper. We do say that our most requested sizes are 4, 5s, and 6s, and some pull-ups. And in 2000, we started the diaper bank in 2012, but in 2018 Kimberly-Clark came out with the period program, Alliance for Period Supplies, with our national organization. And what they realized is that 1 in 4 girls were missing school because they did not have the supplies to keep them clean.

Oh my goodness, wouldn't that be terrible?

That's terrible. So we launched our period program, and right now we partner with elementary, high schools, we partner with libraries, we partner with universities, we part— our social service agencies take period products So that basic need has grown tremendously because they found out that that's another one that's no government assistance and you have to have them and people can't afford them.

I have a question. Do you have adult size diapers?

Yes, we do. Okay. That's another program. So that's our incontinence, that's for our seniors. During the pandemic, and we always offered them before then, but during the pandemic it really grew because our seniors had no transportation. They were stuck in their homes. They're on a fixed income, and these incontinence supplies just cost so much that we had a lot of them reach out. And so we carry the Pull-Ups. We also have the tabs. We do bed pads, we do the wipes for the seniors, and ointment. And we've taken on high-rises. We have— most of our seniors, some of them will walk into our warehouse to pick them up. So when you look at all of those together, those are all basic needs, and nobody chooses to have to have those things. You just need them, and no government assistance for any of them.

Because two things I was thinking. One, and if you're listening to the show, I'm glad that she talked about the adult diapers because there are people that have adult children with very significant disabilities that this would be helpful. Yes. And then I'm thinking, do you work with like skilled nursing homes? Do you do anything there?

I do not with skilled nursing homes. I, um, a lot of them either the nursing home or supply them, or they get them elsewhere. They don't like to take them from a third party.

I see. Well, that's sad because, uh, my father was in, uh, assisted living, and that was often an issue. But once again, if you're listening, you can reach Kathy Battle at wpa.diaperbank— is it wpa.diaperbank or wpa.

wpa.diaperbank.org?

Okay, you can make a donation or just reach out to Kathy. Uh, maybe you want her to speak somewhere right here in Pittsburgh. You know, remember now You've got superstar Athena Award winner, but you know, this is something, something you should take seriously. So, Cathy, how about your programs? I saw that you have a lot of programs and then you get a social network to help you get the diapers out. How does all of that work?

So, Joyce Bender, the diaper banks kind of took on the same model as food banks. So we partner with social service agencies, churches, like I said, schools and other things. They give the supplies to the family, so the families don't come directly to us. And the reason being that they give the supplies to the families is because they know the families, they offer other wraparound services. So when the families come pick up the diapers, they can find out a other needs that they have and they can offer them, you know, if it's housing or if it's your utilities or if it's food or clothes, they find out the other needs. And what they found out is that they're going to come for the diapers. If they don't come for anything else, they're going to come for the diapers. And so the diapers is just a small thing that opens up the door to bring those families in so that you can find out what other needs they may have. And right now we work with over 70 partner agencies and we're in 8 counties right now. So in 8 counties, we work with over 70 partner agencies plus, which does not include like the schools and the libraries and stuff to get these basic needs into the hands of the families that need them.

So How does that work in case someone's listening? You go to an agency or not-for-profit, whatever it is, and you say, we want to work together, and then what? How does that go?

So most of the agencies, there's an agency application that's on our website. We go through it once a year and add on new partners, you know, hoping to find a new area that we are not servicing right now. The partners sign up with us and then we give the diapers and period products and everything to them. They take them back to their space and then they give them to the community.

Wow, that's great. 8 counties, boy, you're really moving.

8 counties, can you believe that?

Yes. Look, one decision. One decision. Think how many babies you have helped.

Yes, um, last year alone in 2023, we gave out 2.5 million diapers to 15,000 families to over 50,000 babies.

Wow.

Yes.

Okay, just so I'm sure everyone hears that, would you repeat those facts again?

So last year, 2023, We gave out 2.5 million diapers to 15,000 families, servicing over 50,000 babies.

Oh, that is like music to my ears. That— what does that— like, what does that do to you, Kathy, when you see a family, even way back at the beginning, when you would see this, what does that do to you?

Oh, at the way back at the beginning, you know, and I was like one of those people and I told my husband, well, I don't know what we can do about it, but after seeing the moms come to you in need, you're going to make a way to help those moms because you soon learned that it is a real problem. Back in the day, I would even go to their homes and drop off diapers. I remember that. And once I got in that home I would be asked all kind of questions like, who can fix my heat? Who can help me with my water bill? Where can I get this? And it's like, I knew that that family needed help. And so from the very beginning, once I realized what I was dealing with, I kept saying and I kept praying, you cannot run out of diapers. You have said you're going to help these moms and you have to do whatever it takes. To help these moms.

And what did you do at the very beginning? How did you get this going?

Like I said, the church did the first 3,000, and we networked, but through networking, telling that story, people just start donating diapers.

And did you have volunteers? Did you have people from the church volunteering?

I did. The church members the women's ministry. They were my first board. They helped me organize diaper drives until it outgrew the church. That's how, that's how it just grew. It just kept growing. But God made a way for everything. And I'm gonna say, we never ran out of diapers. We— wow—

ran out of all those years.

All those years.

By the way, how many years ago did this all start?

So it's been 12 years ago.

Uh, 12 years ago.

And whatever diapers we needed, they came through the door, and it was a blessing.

So at the beginning, did people just donate these diapers to you?

People just donated. But we went to like the Rotary Club and the Chamber and churches and, you know, different networking groups, and people just start holding diaper drives. And the diapers just kept coming. And as word spread, somebody over here was holding a diaper drive and someone here is having a diaper drive. And that's how we supplied our first agencies is with donations from the community.

Wow, that is really great. And now how you do this, you still accept, as you said, but now people, you have sponsors, like do companies sponsor anything for you?

So now we still appreciate and with those diaper drives help, but we, through our national organization, we are able to purchase at wholesale discounted prices. We order from a number of people, but we have the support of foundations, we have the support of corporate organizations that help us, um, do this work in the community.

And I hope if you're listening right now, of course you can make a donation, but if you're a business person, you should go back and tell your company, because I always tell people, when you have a not-for-profit and people say, wow, that's so great what you're doing, you know, it's like a company. I mean, you have expenses, You know, you mean you have to pay people. I'll never forget when I was the national chair of the Epilepsy Foundation and the CEO, we had received million-dollar gift from one woman who saved her whole life, had epilepsy but never told anyone. So he said, here we are with all these millions of dollars that were recommended. But I have to make sure I can turn on the lights. And what he meant was all of that was restricted funds. But you still are operating, you know, you still have bills you have to pay. That's why I said, listen, make a donation. And but tell other people, as a matter of fact, you're listening now. Almost every social media venue. Has Disability Matters with Joyce Bender on voiceamerica.com on their site. So you can get the podcast from Spotify, Amazon, Apple, and if there's someone you want to know about it, you can share the podcast. So remember, Disability Matters with Joyce Bender on voiceamerica.com. Um, how did you know You know, a friend of mine says there's a good plan and there's a God plan. So how did you know, okay, this is a God plan?

I knew because I, like I said, by trade I was a respiratory therapist, no business background at all. As this thing started growing, I did go back to school and get my business degree, but God opened every door possible. And, and I mean every door from the 501 to the first partner agency to never running out of any diapers to growing it where it's at today with 8 counties and giving out 2.5 million diapers and going to do 3 million today to being the only diaper bank in Western Pennsylvania. It's in the plan.

I'll bet there aren't, though, a lot of these in the United States because of what you said earlier, that a lot of people aren't aware. Like, that's the last thing I would have thought. If you said, what do they need, I'd be thinking clothes, food, uh, you know, maybe bottles, cribs, things like that, but not diapers. I wouldn't have thought of diapers. So, you know, You're bringing awareness to the whole country by doing this.

And we are, and we're part of a national organization called National Diaper Bank Network, and there's over 300 diaper banks in this organization, and there is one in every state, but I know there's not one in every city or anything like that, and we're continuing to grow, but through this network and raising awareness, We've come a long way. And we also do a lot of advocacy and lobbying on state and national level to raise awareness to our councilmen and our senators and congressmen to let them know that families are out here suffering and there should be some type of assistance for them to buy diapers for their babies. But through our organization and the work that we do, we've come a long way.

Yeah, that's great. I think you recently had a gala, right?

It's been a few years, and that marked our 10th year gala.

Yes. Yeah, was that— I bet that was fun, huh? That was fun. Thinking how far you've come.

Thank you.

Yes, before you know it, it'll be 15.

I know.

Oh yeah, you're, you're really moving forward. Well, uh, Kathy, when I hear you talk and see what a servant leader you are, there's always a family member or a business person or someone in history that has impacted someone. So who is your role model? Who has impacted you?

You know what, Joyce Bender, and I've thought about that and I thought about that, and I think it has taken a community to get me where I'm at today. You know, you have your celebrity, you have your personal, you have your community organization, organizations. And so many people have spoken to me positively that you can do— with God, you can do all things. All you have to do is put one foot forward and God will do the rest. So through my church and through my husband, you know, through different first ladies and pastors You know, I think there's just a lot of people that have spoken positively to me and to let me know that I can do all things.

Yes, you can do all things. And you have been, you have been doing all things. Hey everyone, I'm sorry that Perry was out today with our news break, but I did want to mention one thing nationally that is going on right now. Is that they are trying to get the enforcement of abolishing 14. You know what that is? Subminimum pay for people with disabilities. It is still so hard for me to believe at these not-for-profits or government agencies that they pay people with disabilities a dollar an hour or 50 cents an hour. And the reason is this bill was passed World War II, way back in time, to help the veterans, to make sure they had work to do. Now, okay, we're in 2024. So I just want to say, keep calling your, uh, your, uh, congressman or senator about 14c. And, and by my dad, Senator Casey, thanking him for everything he has done for us. Kathy, were you going to say something? No. Oh, okay. I didn't want to make sure I didn't interrupt you there. Um, okay, so, so far in your life, what would you say is your greatest accomplishment?

You know, I would say, you know, starting this organization. I, I would have to say that because, like you said, when I look back and God has taken me this far to bless someone else that is less fortunate than myself, and through all those blessings, I've been blessed twofold. And so I totally believe giving out that first diaper to giving out, oh, in 8 counties right now, that's a great accomplishment that I've done. And I am honored for the help that I've got, received to do this work, to make this accomplishment possible.

Well, I'll tell you what, it is a great accomplishment. And one of the questions I was going to ask you is, when you look back, what like really stands out to you where you were like blown away, where you were so overjoyed? What stands out to you?

You know that what stands out to me really is that I could even do this work. But what really stands out is just like taking on that first agency, getting through that first year and seeing the accomplishments we made with 16,000 diapers that first year. I was like, wow, we did this. And each year as I watched it grow into what it is, I was— I'm amazed. And my husband would say, you never thought that it would get here. You never thought that this was going to happen, and I didn't. And he's like, I always knew it. He said, because I got the vision, I got the vision from God, and I knew this was going to happen. And for me to be used like that, I'm just, you know, overwhelmed with that.

Yeah, no wonder. Hey, do we have Gerald on?

I'm here.

Oh, sorry, Gerald, didn't recognize you there. This is Gerald Homme, my manager of talent programs, a great disability rights leader, but since he handles what's going on at Bender, Gerald, what's going on at Bender?

Oh, well, thank you for letting me always call in, Joyce, and man, we are just having the amazing privilege at Bender to continue to impact lives this late in the year. Yes, There is no slowdown for the holidays at Bender. There are still job opportunities to be given out, and what a great present for the holidays to be given the gift of competitive employment. We even had somebody get an offer over the weekend of a great job at a company that we're working with and have still companies asking us to hire people with disabilities in healthcare throughout the city of Pittsburgh and, and roles in IT working remotely throughout the country. So there is no slowing down at Bender when it comes to the mission of competitive employment for people with disabilities, Joyce. So if you're out there and you're looking for a job right now, go to benderconsult.com/jobs. Check out what we have to offer right now and Get in touch with my recruitment team.

Gerald, I, I, you share with me a real Christmas, like a Hallmark movie story. Would you mind sharing that? And by the way, when I told this to my sister last night, she cried. So let's hear that story, Gerald.

Is this the story we talked about on the show last week or the new one?

The new one.

The new one. And isn't that amazing when you get two Hallmark stories back to back? Uh, this is my buddy Thomas, who I checked— I've been working with him since March, and I love you, Thomas, you're the best. Tom, we have been trying to help Tom. Tom had to leave work due to a medical issue in 2019. Um, great experience in technology and healthcare. And couldn't get back to work at his past place of employment. And because he's a go-getter, as many people with disabilities are, he sought out additional experience, went out and got a master's degree, got certifications, got out and got all these great skills, and nobody would hire him. So Tom ended up working as a store associate, which is nothing wrong with being that, but that's not his career path. And we finally— that job offer I said on Saturday— got to get him his hire, and he is going to be working in, yes, an IT role full-time again, back in his career field. Yes, and healthcare again. In IT after that long search. And he called me on Saturday when he got his offer with tears and said, Gerald, you don't know what you did for me. But Tom, you don't know what you did for me, because this is what it's all about with this mission we did. And then Joyce Bender got to call him, and his girlfriend was on the phone and said, thank you for never giving up on him. And Tom, we'll never give up on you. And we're not giving up on people with disabilities, that's for sure. That's right, we're never giving up on this fight. We've got so many people to continue to advocate for, for employers to see our value and why we are awesome in the workforce. So thank you, Joyce Bender.

You're welcome. And you know, he goes to my church and I didn't even know him until Gerald told me he went to my church. But I've got to tell you, he has gone through so much and has fought so much, really just trying to make a living with a master's degree. This is what's amazing to me. But, oh, when we got to offer him that job, just as Gerald said, uh, that's what he said. My favorite part though is when his grandchild in the back seat said, Thank you. That was my favorite part. So yes, thank you, Gerald. Thank you for calling in. Well, Kathy, what messages do you have for our listeners today?

You know, I'm just going to say, if there's anything you can do for someone that's in need, try to help them out. Because things change and you never know what you might need. So if you can bless someone, bless them, and you will be royally blessed for helping them.

Yes, because of what you just said, it could be you.

It could be you.

It could be you. And boy, will you be thinking about, oh, I just wish— you know, when I had my accident at the movie theater, in 1985. Didn't know I had epilepsy, and I had a seizure and hit the floor so hard I fractured my skull and ended up having life-saving brain surgery. And against all odds, I had this miraculous recovery. But you know, it was the intermission of a movie, so there weren't a lot of people out there. But this one person came forward and said, "I'm a doctor. I know what's wrong." So rare that out of the few people there— Yes. And he saved my life. And since then, I've been on TV, New York Times, speak all the time, travel around the world speaking about disability. Never found him. Never. Wow. And that's why when Reader's Digest read a little article about me, They said, and she believes, that was her angel at the movie theater. And I do believe that because look what happened. Now I find employment for people with disabilities. And just as Kathy said, when you get a chance to help someone, it will come back to you. Not possibly in dollars, but definitely spiritually. Definitely making you feel good, definitely helping those worries go away. Help people. Kathy, I can't thank you enough for being with us today, Athena Award winner.

Thank you so much for having me again. You know, I really appreciate it. I really, you know, love talking about the diaper bank and getting the word out for people to help us help others. And so I thank you so much for having me on.

Absolutely. And hey, this is Kathy Battle, the co-founder and executive director of Western Pennsylvania Diaper Bank. One more time, the website if someone wants to make a donation.

It's wpadiperbank.org. And if you have any questions or anything, you can always send us an email through info@wpadiaperbank.org and someone will get back with you as soon as possible.

And I hope you will. And you know, we end every show with a quote and I thought today, oh, this has to be it. This has to be it. For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore, I command you, you shall open Wad your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor in your land. A scripture that I think says it all. And in the words of Mary Brocker, when you go out today, remember, choose joy. This is Joyce Bender, America's Voice, where disability matters at Voice America voiceamerica.com. I will talk to you all next week.

Voice America would like to thank you for tuning in. Please join us next Tuesday at 11 AM Pacific time and 2 PM Eastern time for another installment of Disability Matters right here on the Voice America variety channel. We are the leader in live internet talk radio. voiceamerica.com.