On September 28 the cloth diaper community came together to support Giving Diapers, Giving Hope in the form of the first-ever telethon using the new social network Periscope.

Periscope is an app that allows anyone to broadcast live video from anywhere in the world to anyone!  The idea to utilize this fun new social media platform was inspired by BALM Baby and grew to include over 30 brands/retailers/media.  So many people signed up to raise money for Giving Diapers, Giving Hope that the event lasted a staggering 17+ hours!  Sept 28 also marked the first day of National Diaper Need Awareness Week.

I kicked it off at 10 minutes til 9 AM EST and closed it (even though TheBabyGuyNYC was still broadcasting his bedtime story #afterdark finale) at around 2:00 AM EST.  Each hour two members of the cloth diaper community held their own broadcast to discuss diaper need, how cloth diapers can be a solution for families in need, who THEY were and why they cared about this issue, and how their company was helping by donating!  Each person set up goals and if they earned x number of hearts they would make a donation to Giving Diapers, Giving Hope.  The more hearts they earned the higher the donation!  Brands made donations totaling $1,700+ and pledged to give more than 450 cloth diapers to GDGH!

The other aspect of this Periscopathon asked for YOUR donations!  We had a seemingly impossible goal- we wanted to raise $5,000.  Did we make it?

YES.

YES WE DID.

We raised a staggering $6,300 and exceeded our goal by $1,300!

How did we achieve such a feat? We did it through the passion and combined efforts of a community I grow to love more and more every single day.

We did it thanks to Calley from Diaper Shops wearing a diaper on her head while doing the Whip and Ne Ne.

We did it thanks to Lavie Bebe throwing a pie in her own face when she hit her goal!

We did it thanks to Smart Bottoms matching dollar for dollar every donation made in their Periscope up to $500. Their fans and the company together raised $1,415! (PS you can order Smart Bottoms print Jamberry nails to beneft GDGH now too)

We did it thanks to Milk and Sugar Co and her awesomely fun Periscope game of The Price is Right!

We did it thanks to qdSpray and her hilarious game that involved 3 facts about me. She even played a clip of my infamous Pteradactyl laugh that only a lucky few ever get to hear!

We did it thanks to Rumparooz and their special offer to send doll diapers to donors who pledged $35 or more in a new print that no one has even seen yet! And Super Undies who also promised special trainers in their new prints to the highest donors during their Periscope. And Lalabye Baby who offered a HTF print giveaway for donors and Spray Pal who danced for heart and donated $10 for every 10,000 hearts!  Molly’s Suds who SANG, Change Diapers who got to pet a sleeping puppy, The Eco Chic who made the perfect backdrop, Funky Fluff creators who both talked in their best Canadian accents, GroVia who upped their stretch goal and got enough hearts to donate 200 covers, MamaSuds who shared her passion for healthy cleaning products, The Eco Friendly Family who made everyone love her, Cloth Diaper Geek who taught us how to diaper on a budget, AppleCheeks who was most fashionably dressed, Dream Diapers who had people watching on two screens just because they love Deanna that much, ConservamomE who put her baby in a tux for the occasion, Donna from Black Women Do Cloth Diaper who passionately explained the diaper gap and lack of resources/education, FiggyFuzz who shared how cloth diapers help Foster families, Samozrejme who taught us how to say her name AND pulled out special prizes to raise donations, Strawberry Sunshine who shared her love of cloth and supported us all the whole day, Thirsties who learned how to Periscope that day and took us on a tour of their warehouse, EcoNuts who taught us about soap berries, Pinstripes and Polkadots who eloquently explained why diaper need is such a huge problem, Bottombumpers who shared her own personal story, BALM Baby who grossed us out with maggot talk, Softbums who showed us the slide2size, Sloomb who began an impromptu wool class, Sweet Pea Diapers who announced a special GDGH diaper coming soon, and TheBabyGuyNYC for tucking us in with a special bedtime story at 2 AM!

We did it thanks to YOU.  YOU guys who shared, and tweeted, and invited, and TAPPED and TAPPED and TAPPED!

Thank you.