Berkshire Community Diaper Project
Support the Berkshire Community Diaper Project This January 2025!
We are proud to announce that the Berkshire Community Diaper Project is our "Every Penny Counts" recipient for January 2025. This incredible non-profit organization helps combat diaper needs in Berkshire County, providing essential support for good health care for infants. By supplying diapers to 23 local food pantries and human service agencies, they ensure that families in need have access to this crucial resource.
We invite you to round-up or select a denomination of your choosing at checkout in the month of January 2025 to help our community!
Learn how to get diapers- click here
Berkshire Community Diaper Project’s Mission
To combat diaper need in Berkshire County by providing diapers and giving technical advice to qualified partnering agencies (eg. food pantries and human service agencies) who then distribute our diapers to families in need.
Berkshire Community Diaper Project Organizational History and Profile:
The Berkshire Community Diaper Project was founded in September 2014 in response to research conducted by Dr. Megan Smith of the Child Study Center at the Yale School of Medicine which showed a strong correlation between the diaper need of low-income mothers and the occurrence of maternal depression. According to their study, diaper need – even more than food insufficiency – is a daily stressor that contributes to stress and mental health struggles for mothers. Additionally, children who wear soiled diapers are at risk of rashes and infections; their irritable crying may also put them at risk for abuse or neglect from frustrated, depressed parents.
Unlike the basic need of food, diapers are not covered by the WIC or SNAP programs – so low-income families often must choose between purchasing diapers and covering other routine expenses such as heat, housing, and transportation. Because children must have a supply of disposable diapers to attend day care, parents who do not have a sufficient supply of diapers may have to miss school, training, or work, which contributes to the difficulty of moving out of poverty.
Our organization partners with local businesses and community groups to raise money, we apply for grant funding, and we seek individual contributions. We then purchase and deliver diapers to 23 food pantries and agencies that serve low-income families with young children throughout Berkshire County. We have distributed increasing numbers of diapers each year, totaling more than 1.6 million diapers since the BCDP was begun.
More than 3,000 children in Berkshire County are enrolled in the three local WIC programs (up from 2,000 in 2014), meaning their parents fall at or below the Federal Poverty Level, or up to 185% of this level. In addition, families whose seasonal employment may drop off, or who may incur a large financial setback (i.e. car repairs, medical bills) may be temporarily unable to afford diapers. Lastly, we know transitory community members and others may be reluctant to apply for government programs – these people will, however, often access food and diapers from the many food pantries in Berkshire County.
As a member of the National Diaper Bank Network, we can purchase diapers below retail cost. Additionally, because Ray Murray, Inc. of Lee, Massachusetts has donated warehouse space to the BCDP, we save substantially on shipping and have no storage costs. This allows BCDP to purchase and store shipments of diapers for distribution throughout Berkshire County well below the cost that individuals or even local human service agencies would pay.
Every dollar donated will go solely to the purchase of diapers and wipes for low- to moderate-income families in Berkshire County.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have increased the number of agencies we partner with and developed connections to meet the growing need for diapers, especially amongst marginalized people. We now provide diapers to Jewish Family Services for Afghan refugee families, to Berkshire Community College so students can have their infants in day care while the student attends classes, and through large community events such as Pride Day, Juneteenth, and the upcoming Berkshire Babypalooza 2023 in North Adams. The growth in partners has allowed for additional growth in numbers of diapers distributed– we distributed 21.9% more diapers in 2022 than in 2021 and have now surpassed 1.7 million diapers distributed since September 2014!
In northern Berkshire County we routinely provide diapers to the Berkshire Nursing Families, Berkshire North WIC, the Friendship Food Pantry, the Family Center of North Berkshire County and the Williamstown Food Pantry.
If people are interested in knowing where they can access diapers, please go to the “Need Diapers?” tab on our website www.berkshirecommunitydiaperproject.com.
Thank you for your support in helping us help the local area in need!
Thank you for your donations!
In April 2023 guests donated to Berkshire Community Diaper Project in our Every Penny Counts Program to help combat diaper needs in Berkshire County to support good health care for infants by providing diapers to local food pantries and human service agencies who distribute them freely to families in need. A total of $2,400.35 was delivered to Daltry Turner, Board President by our General Manager, Netse Lytle.
About Wild Oats Market
Wild Oats Market is a socially responsible co-op market that has been serving the Northern Berkshire County community for over four decades. As a collectively Member-Owned store, we have become the go-to destination for local, organic, specialty, bulk, and sustainable food options. Whether you’re passionate about social responsibility, environmental stewardship, fair trade practices, healthy eating, or supporting locally produced food, Wild Oats Market has something for everyone.
Here’s what you need to know about us:
Ownership: More than 1800+ community members collectively own this co-op.
Location: Find us at 320 Main St, Williamstown, MA.
Hours of Operation: Store is open daily from 8 am to 8 pm.
Shopping Experience: Everyone is welcome to shop at Wild Oats Market. Whether you’re browsing the aisles, enjoying a meal in the café, enjoying our outside seating area or looking for ways to save, this co-op is your community hub.
Ways to Save: Check out our weekly deals and explore ways to save on fresh, organic, and local option on our Ways-to-Save page (click here).
Community Engagement: We actively support local non-profit organizations through programs like Every Penny Counts (click here) (formerly Round Up for Change) .
Environmental Commitment: We prioritize environmental stewardship by promoting local and fair-trade food production, renewable energy, composting, and recyclable packaging.
So, if you’re in Williamstown, make sure to visit us, where good food and community come together!
eNewsletter: Sign Up for Free (click here)CONTACT WILD OATS MARKET:
Netse Lytle, General Manager, WildOats.coop, 413-458-5317 x13, gm@wildoats.coop