GREENFIELD — Greenfield Community College’s diaper drive, which started Monday and will run through Friday, will benefit not only the Franklin County Diaper Bank, but some of its students’ children, too.
Volunteers will accept donations and share information in GCC’s core lobby in the east building of the main campus, as well as the downtown campus during lunchtime throughout the week.
The drive was organized as part of National Diaper Need Awareness Week, according to Cheyanne Gracia, administrative coordinator for the United Way of Franklin County, which works in partnership with the diaper bank.
Gracia said the goal of the drive is to collect money and diapers, but also to draw attention to the issue of need throughout Franklin County. According to the diaper bank, nearly one in three families throughout the county struggle to afford diapers.
“Each package of diapers is the difference between a child being exposed to rashes, infections or other health issues, and them having a positive start in life that increases the likelihood for improved well-being in the future,” United Way of Franklin County Executive Director Kelly Brigham-Steiner said. “We all suffer when a child suffers. A donation is a small way to say you care, and has a big impact now and in the future.”
Brigham-Steiner said some families in the county struggle to afford diapers, which cost on average of $70 to $80 a month for every baby. People cannot use food stamps to buy them, and there are no government programs that can assist families with this necessary expense, according to Deb Billings, a member of the diaper task force and organizer of the diaper bank’s annual drive held in June.
The Franklin County Diaper Bank provides close to 5,000 diapers per month to 10 distribution sites across the county, including the GCC campus food pantry.
National Diaper Need Awareness week was launched in 2012 by the National Diaper Bank Network to alert communities to the issues related to a lack of diapers. According to the National Diaper Bank Network, when struggling to afford diapers, the effects can be devastating and reverberate throughout the community. Families who cannot provide an adequate amount of diapers are unable to bring their child to daycare, preventing parents from returning to work or school and contributing to the cycle of poverty.
For more information about the diaper bank and the GCC diaper drive, email: franklincountydiaperbank@gmail.com. You can also make monetary donations at: uw-fc.org/diaper-bank.
Reach Anita Fritz at
413-772-0261, ext. 269 or afritz@recorder.com.