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Share Our Spare kids - contact

Believing everychild deserves a strong start

Share Our Spare is

Share Our Spare is a community resource of essentials, education and advocacy for families living in poverty and the agencies that serve them. Parents in financial crisis often must prioritize food, rent and other basic needs over diapers, wipes and baby supplies, making impossible decisions for the wellbeing of their family. Service agencies often do not have access to these essentials, digging into their own pockets in order to provide them to the families they serve. We work to help fill these gaps, so that every Chicago area child – from newborn to age 5 – has a healthy, safe start, and every parent the opportunity to provide one.

Share Our Spare partners

We Believe…

ALL children are our children
EVERY child deserves a good start
NO family should have to choose between surviving and thriving
ONE day we will see the end to generational poverty if our children have the essentials and opportunities to succeed
Share Our Spare delivering diapers

The Need

65,000 children in Cook County are experiencing poverty

1 in 3 Chicagoland families struggles to afford diapers

Diapers can represent 14% of take-home income for a parent earning minimum wage

Diapers are taxed as “luxury” items and no federal assistance exists for diapers

Families with low incomes pay more for basic supplies because they can’t buy in bulk or purchase memberships at wholesale stores

Diaper need is the #1 stressor for moms, above food or housing insecurity

Soiled diapers can lead to health problems and fussy babies who are at higher risk of abuse

Read more about the need.

Closing the Gap

2021

0

Children served through agency and community partners

0

DIAPERS DISTRIBUTED
0

ESSENTIALS PROVIDED
bar chart
270
DIAPERS PER CHILD
average family
usage per month
50
DIAPERS PER CHILD
average SOS
supply provided per month

See more of our impact.

How We Serve

Share Our Spare gear stroller

We collect new baby essentials, give new life to gently used baby items, such as clothing, high chairs and strollers, and open our Sharehouse for partner agencies to select items their clients need.

See our accepted items.

Share Our Spare diaper

Through a network of nonprofits partners and large-scale community partnerships, we provide essential items for families to close the gap and ensure every child’s basic needs are met because basic needs are more than basic, they are essential.

View our directory of agency partners.

Share Our Spare community

We are committed to supporting the community not only with basic needs but opportunities to work together and educate one another. Our Sharehouse is a space for corporations, social organizations and partner agencies to volunteer, connect, share ideas and resources, learn, and grow.

Learn more.

Where We Serve

We partner with social service agencies representing 120 zip codes in the following counties:

Cook
DeKalb
DuPage
Kane
Lake

McHenry
McLean
Will
Winnebago

Find out how to become an agency partner.

Share Our Spare area of coverage map

A Connection Point for Communities in Need

“Before Share Our Spare, it wasn’t uncommon for me and my team to spend our own money to buy what our patients and their babies need; when you see a need, you can’t turn away from it. Now, we know we can turn to Share Our Spare for immediate needs as well as ongoing ones like diapers. A huge burden is lifted through this partnership for us and our patients.”

Esperanza Torres, Case Manager Team Leader
Erie Family Health Centers

Share Our Spare partner shopping
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Alex Goodfellow

Executive Director

Alex has more than 10 years of nonprofit experience, including five years with The Little Bit Foundation in St. Louis, MO, where she directed the organization’s programming and strategic partnerships and contributed to revenue growth of more than 300%. Prior to SOS, she served as Manager of Corporate Partnerships for One Million Degrees, a Chicago-based nonprofit serving scholars in post-secondary programs. Alex also has experience in domestic violence, as well as youth advocacy. She holds a Master’s in Social Work from the George Warren Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis and a Bachelor’s in Psychology from Saint Louis University.

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Share Our Spare Bridget Rundquist

Bridget Rundquist

Director of Partnerships and Community Engagement

A native Chicagoan, Bridget is a mission-driven professional with extensive experience serving young people, working in the intersection of education and social work, and building relationships with diverse communities of stakeholders. Bridget holds a Master’s in Social Work from the George Warren Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis and a Bachelor’s in History with minors in Education and Psychology from Lesley University in Cambridge, MA. She spent a semester abroad in Northern Uganda studying Post-Conflict Resolution and has spent several summers in Jerusalem with Project Harmony Israel.

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Jesseca Rhymes

Director of Operations and Development

Jesseca began her career with Apartments.com, where she worked directly with property managers and management companies. She also has served as an assistant property manager with Mercy Housing and as the assignments coordinator at DePaul University’s Department of Housing. In 2015, Jesseca founded Never Go Without, which has donated over 50,000 menstruation and incontinence supplies to individuals in need around the Chicago area. She earned her Master’s degree in Nonprofit Management and has an undergraduate degree in Psychology from Eastern Illinois University.

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Sade Chapman

Operations Coordinator

Sade (they/them) is a community-oriented service industry professional and administrator with a passion for cultivating care through highly personalized experiences. Sade holds a Master’s in Museum Studies from the University of Illinois-Chicago and a Bachelors’ in Anthropology and International Studies from the University of Washington.

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Get In Touch

Share Our Spare
3800 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Chicago, IL 60641
‭773-657-3117

Email:
info@shareourspare.org

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Share Our Spare Lou

Louis Macmillan

Driver

Louis (Lou) attended Progressive Truck Driving School in Chicago where he received his Class A CDL license. After working at PGT Trucking, he decided to make a change in occupations and started with Share Our Spare in the fall of 2021. Lou says, “I love my job and our mission! I get to deliver essential items for children and meet a lot of new people doing important work throughout the community. I look forward to what’s to come each day!”

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Jarod Rhymes

Driver

Jarod Rhymes is a recent graduate from the University of Illinois-Chicago and is currently pursuing his Master’s in Urban Planning and Policy. As part-time van driver, Jarod is responsible for executing SOS donation pick-up services and facilitates many Stuff the Truck events. In addition to being a full-time student and part-time SOS employee, Jarod also is a proud member of the Illinois National Guard.

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Sade Chapman

Operations Coordinator

Sade (they/them) is a community-oriented service industry professional and administrator with a passion for cultivating care through highly personalized experiences. Sade holds a Master’s in Museum Studies from the University of Illinois-Chicago and a Bachelors’ in Anthropology and International Studies from the University of Washington.

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Lauren Arbuckle

Program Coordinator

Lauren began her journey as a civic advocate for food insecurity, during her graduate practicum at Columbia College Chicago. Outside her education, she worked as a portraiture photographer and led mental wellness programs for the elderly. The desire to help and preserve individualism in communities has led her towards collaborative work. Her avid background includes media literacy and digital production. She obtained her MA in Civic Media at Columbia College Chicago and BA in Journalism and Multimedia Studies at Roosevelt University.

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