‘Pull Up for Pull-Ups' initiative serves Sandpoint, North Idaho

SANDPOINT — It’s one thing to receive a shipment of 70,000 diapers. It’s another thing to get them to the families who need them in rural North Idaho. 

Throughout April, Coeur d’Alene-based nonprofit St. Vincent de Paul North Idaho is hosting “Pull up for Pull-Ups” — a series of six drive-through events in which residents can receive packages of both traditional diapers and pull-ups for free.

St. Vincent de Paul designed the initiative to distribute the 70,000 pull-ups it received from Spokane nonprofit Partners Inland Northwest in February, along with a stockpile of traditional diapers it received in December 2024. 

Organizers are partnering with nonprofits and institutions in cities and towns across Idaho’s uppermost counties to ensure residents are aware of the opportunities and that the goods land in the hands of those who need them. 

“Getting them out to our partner agencies in all the counties is really beneficial,” said Katie Simmons, director of Saint Vincent de Paul North Idaho’s ICARE program. “We can sit on them all day long, but that doesn’t help anybody.” 

The distribution team brought its trailer to the Bonner County fairgrounds in Sandpoint on Wednesday and served more than 50 families over the course of two hours. 

Community Resource EnVision Center nonprofit resource specialist Lindsay Morgan helped coordinate the Sandpoint stop; she said the drive-through format helps parents who often have their hands full wrangling young kids. 

“For people with small children, it's so much less stressful for them to not even have to get out of the vehicle, mess with car seats, all of that kind of stuff,” Morgan said. “We want to remove any barrier that we can for people.” 

Morgan added that in addition to housing and utility costs, essential goods like diapers are among the wide range of expenses that burden local families. 

“People need just about everything right now,” she said.