Result of contact with kimberly-clark re diaper petiton

[Don]

the Abena youth diapers come by a pk of 32 and they are for 16”-24” waist. My son wore them at 9 years old. The products are out there. But the demand may not be there to justify a physical store location here in the states. The economics is probably a driving factor. Like I said, I’m not saying you’re wrong or attacking your idea. But if companies don’t understand the economics behind the supply/demand, they will fail before they get off the ground.

[sociologygeek]

I don't know if you believe in God, but I do. I serve a mighty and powerful God who can move mountains. The same God that Danny Thomas believed in, the founder of St Jude's Children Research Hospital. He asked for St Jude's intercession in exchange for building a "shrine" in his honor. He was struggling to make his way in life, but found success. He eventually founded the hospital which is now the LARGEST pediatric cancer hospital in the Western Hemisphere. Everyone told him, you can't do it you'll be disappointed. He didn't listen, he was simply faithful to his promise to St. Jude. What is the result? This is the result. A type of childhood leukemia that was a virtual death sentence in 1964 has now a 94% percent survival rate when treated at the hospital. St Jude has tripled the survival rate of childhood cancers. It costs 2 million dollars a DAY to run the hospital, and yet somehow they do it! Somehow they have found sufficient funding to continue. In the face of 2 million dollars a DAY being generated by God by those who trust in Him, what is the measly cost of what I am proposing???

[Don]

I’m not arguing religion. That is inappropriate on this forum. But I am Catholic. In your first post, you asked for help from people with business experience. I hold degrees in Business Administration, Management, and Economics. I’m not here to give my resume. I was just trying to tell you at least a fraction of what you’re up against. These are real risks. No call to get defensive. You need to know these things. Good luck in your endeavors.

[sociologygeek]

Don,
I'm not getting defensive. I'm just saying difficult does not mean not doable or impossible . Thank you very much for your input. It gave me insight i previously lacked. your points merit careful consideration. with your background I could definetly use you on the board of directors for the non profit when i get things started, if you are so interested. The non profit diaper company is only a recent idea, the biggest focus is increasing access to quality continence supplies and peer to peer support for incontinent individuals. I am going to look into all the diaper sizes and compare them to see whetehr they currently meet the needs of all children and adolesncents of shapes and sizes, and where there could be a better selection to meet needs. Given what you have told me about the risks, I suppose i should only consider launching my own non profit company if there is no better solution to provide families with what they need.
I apologize if i caused you any offense.

PS.. In case you couldn't tell by the Mother Theresa quote in my signature, i'm also Catholic Proud 4th Degree Knight of Columbus.
PSS also I'm sorry I didn't notice the fact that you yourself have a special needs son in your first reply. I stand corrected. May i ask what his special needs are and the cause of his incontinence?

[MSUSpartan]

@sociologygeek

You're very charitably minded, and I personally think that's great.

I'm a realist though, and I think you have some very pie in the sky ideals. The reality is that neither are the supermarkets or the major manufacturers charities. Should the needs of pay check to pay check folks, with special needs, be met? Absolutely. Is it realistic to expect your local stores, and the big manufacturers to sacrifice profits to make it happen? No, not really. If you want to see that, work on getting government incentives put in place, or the entire system racially changed.

It's not going to happen just because that how it should be in an ideal world.

[Don]

If you feel so inclined, you could start an advocacy group for special needs families with incontinent children to find supplies they can use. Like I said, they’re out there. You just have to know where to look. I take it you have a sociology degree? Use it. Have you explored the Simon foundation for continence? They do advocacy work. Write your congressman. Talk to them about your concerns with getting proper supplies through Medicaid. Take those 4000 signatures and lobby Congress. I concur. These people need help. Your diaper manufacturing may not pan out, but these other things you can do now with minimal cost. Just a thought.

[Steve M.]

@sociologygeek

Just a suggestion...why don't you try working through your KoC group or local church where you might have some real local impact. Continuing here is nice, but it dosen't seem to have yielded much progress in your cause. My intent is not to offend, only to suggest a path that might help those in need. Good luck and best to you.

[Padded53]

I'm not sure how to raise the funds you need but to get the diapers you will need here's an idea. You might want to go directly to the youth diaper makers (Abena, Tena, Prevail) and see if they would be interested in donating youth diapers to your cause. Even if they were seconds, with non-performance related minor flaws, they would still be useable and I'm sure very welcome by a needy family. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't give you anything until you were officially a non-profit charity but at least it would be a way to get the diapers you need, hopefully for free.

[mattwp]

i would like to know what happen to attends back when they was under the P&P umbrella they was in local stores now you have to have them ordered in to pick them up i did see they did come up with a great start to a better brief or diaper what ever you want to call them they have a fair amout of padding in them but have the cloth like sides and leak out of them well they did for me anyway i am sure it is not the manufacture causeing the lack of good diapers pullups on store shelves is the stores them self not having them on the shelf that is where the issue is

[MSUSpartan]

i would like to know what happen to attends back when they was under the P&P umbrella they was in local stores now you have to have them ordered in to pick them up i did see they did come up with a great start to a better brief or diaper what ever you want to call them they have a fair amout of padding in them but have the cloth like sides and leak out of them well they did for me anyway i am sure it is not the manufacture causeing the lack of good diapers pullups on store shelves is the stores them self not having them on the shelf that is where the issue is

P&G sold attends to paper-pak. Paper-pak makes mostly napkins and absorbent pads for meat packaging. They have a very different distribution philosophy than P&G. Institutional, rather than consumer retail sales.

P&G recently got back in the game with always discrete brand underwear. That's their only current adult offering.