Sharon Lyles gave birth to a beautiful baby girl 38 years ago.
But beyond feeling overjoyed with happiness for her baby’s arrival, she couldn’t stop worrying about diapers.
She only had one, and unfortunately, the diaper’s adhesive strip would not stick.
She felt helpless, agony.
From then on, she vowed to help other parents who struggle like she did.
“There was no place that I could go that was a social service agency for me to get any assistance,” Lyles said. “And that is why the Central Florida Diaper Bank was founded.”
Lyles is the founder of Central Florida Diaper Bank and has served as the executive director since its founding in 1995 in Winter Garden.
Recently, the diaper bank was gifted 267,887 diapers from Huggies as part of the 15-year celebration of the National Diaper Bank Network.
“We’re incredibly grateful for it,” she said. “It will help us reach a significant amount of families. I am always enthusiastic, but especially about this donation, because it lets us know from a national level that companies (such as) Huggies are concerned about babies in our community. We hope that the individuals, companies and corporations that are in this local area will take that same interest in what we’re doing and help us create an even greater impact.”
Lyles said this donation will last the bank about four months.
Usually, the Central Florida Diaper Bank will distribute 150 to 200 diapers to around 1,235 families per month.
The bank not only serves Orange County but also Osceola, Lake, Seminole and Polk counties.
One in two families in the U.S. struggles to afford diapers, Lyles said. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the need mostly was seen in low-income, high-risk families. Since then, it’s everybody.
“You have suburban families that are barely able to meet their needs,” she said. “Our diapers are the core (of the bank), because we don’t want our babies to go without clean diapers. If they don’t have clean diapers, they get UTIs, they get diaper rashes and by the time they get to that point, their families are at the emergency room, and then there is a real medical necessity. That is what we try to avoid.”
The bank also offers baby formula to struggling families, as well as education programs such as nutrition classes, development education from birth to age 5, financial literacy courses and more.
Lyles also makes sure to include hygiene kits in every monthly distribution. Many of these families experiencing diaper needs also experience menstrual poverty, she said.
“We do those sorts of things just to make sure that we can help them not just survive but thrive,” Lyles said.
To qualify for monthly distributions, families need to be at or below 185% the federal poverty guidelines, which means a family of three earning $50,546 annually or less qualify for services.
Lyles said the Central Florida Diaper Bank served about 19,000 babies in 2025, and she expects that number to increase this year.
To help families in need beyond just baby items, the Central Florida Diaper Bank partners with a variety of organizations such as Orlando Health, Florida Department of Children and Families, Good360, Heart of Florida United Way and more.
As a small but mighty agency, Lyles said she always is looking for new ambassadors and volunteers to help with the distribution process.
Diapers also can be donated.
“I tell people, ‘We love getting diapers, but if you donate money, we can take that money and buy our diapers and our products in bulk,’” she said. “ We’d just like to see the community get more involved to help us make a greater impact so that we can keep our babies safe, healthy and dry.”