Brandi Jack, Operations Director of Nashville Diaper Connection, Tennessee’s largest diaper bank, was recently awarded Tennessee’s 2023 Immunization Champion Award by the Association of Immunization Managers and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In her role, Jack is responsible for establishing partnerships with organizations across Middle Tennessee that assist Nashville Diaper Connection in the distribution of diapers. This includes managing the Connections™ program, which works with local clinics to provide free diapers to Medicaid-covered and uninsured families with every well-child visit.
“We’re very honored by the ability to partner with local clinics across Middle Tennessee to promote preventive care while also helping support families experiencing diaper need,” said Doug Adair, President and Founder of Nashville Diaper Connection. “We are so proud of Brandi for her leadership and efforts to get as many Tennesseans vaccinated as possible – something that is especially important as we enter cold and flu season. Keeping our communities safe and local families protected has always been Brandi’s first priority.”
During last year’s flu season, vaccination coverage was 57.4 percent among children six months to 17 years of age, according to the CDC. Jack is working to increase that number with the continued help of the Connections program.
“I am beyond grateful to have been named Tennessee’s Immunization Champion,” said Jack. “Helping to keep our communities as healthy as possible is a huge priority, not only for me, but for Nashville Diaper Connection as a whole. We want to ensure every baby in Middle Tennessee is clean, dry and healthy, and vaccines play a huge part in achieving that goal.”
The Connections program seeks to improve equitable access to healthcare for low-income communities in the greater Nashville area. Under Jack’s leadership, the program has made remarkable strides in supporting vaccination efforts. With more than 265 events held since the program’s founding in 2020, Nashville Diaper Connection has helped foster engagement with more than 106,000 individuals or families and facilitated over 27,000 vaccinations and/or well-child visits.
Nashville Diaper Connection has been working to end diaper need in Middle Tennessee since 2013. Funded by grants and donations, the organization connects families in need with diapers through a comprehensive network of partner organizations and programs. Nashville Diaper Connection currently serves families in 22 Middle Tennessee counties, providing a monthly supply of 50 diapers for more than 4,600 babies.
For more information about Nashville Diaper Connection and the Connections program, or to donate or volunteer, visit nashvillediaperconnection.org.
Founded in 2013, Nashville Diaper Connection is Middle Tennessee’s only diaper bank, serving 22 counties across the region. With the support of thousands of volunteers and hundreds of public, private and corporate donors, the nonprofit organization procures disposable baby diapers and distributes them through a network of community partners and proprietary programs. In 2022, Nashville Diaper Connection gave away 2,237,588 diapers to families in need.
The Immunization Champion Awards acknowledge the outstanding efforts of individuals who go above and beyond ensuring vaccination access in their communities and increasing their community’s immunization rate coverage. Recipients are selected by their jurisdiction’s immunization program from a pool of health professionals, coalition members, community advocates, and other immunization leaders. Immunization programs submitted their chosen awardee to AIM for final review and then one winner was selected in participating states, cities, and territories.