Nearly one in two families in the U.S. can’t afford diapers for their children.

Iris Bautista, a mother of four young children, says that after paying rent and other bills, by the end of the month she’s left with little money for groceries or for basic needs like diapers for 5-month-old Manny.

“Diapers are very expensive and it would be very hard for me to adjust my economic situation to be able to buy diapers for my child,” said Bautista. “The Salvation Army has been helping me on a monthly basis with the supply of diapers to keep my baby healthy and happy.”

During this National Diaper Need Awareness Week, organizations like the Community Foodbank of New Jersey and The Salvation Army are asking people to remember the need for these basic care items, which are not covered by federally funded public assistance programs like SNAP or WIC.

“Diapers are one of those things that … people don’t think about immediately when people think about food insecurity,” said Megan Vartan, individual giving manager at The Salvation Army. “But they often go hand in hand, right? So a person who needs to drop off their child in childcare, without those clean diapers they can’t drop off their child in childcare and then go to work. So it’s a cyclical thing. So without those items, we see that cycle of food insecurity just repeating itself.”