Every Penny Counts Donations Delivered
Thank you Northern Berkshire County Community.
Your April 2023
donations for Berkshire Community Diaper Project have been delivered.
Thank you for rounding-up or selecting a denomination of your choosing at your Wild Oats Market checkout to help Berkshire Community Diaper Project in our Every Penny Counts Program!
In April 2023 when guests #shoppedthecoop they donated to Berkshire Community Diaper Project in our Every Penny Counts Program to help combat diaper needs in Berkshire County.
This week all donations were delivered to this non-profit that supports good health care for infants by providing diapers to local food pantries and human service agencies who distribute them freely to families in need.
100% of the donations collected ($2,400.35) at the store were delivered to Daltry Turner, Board President.
MESSAGE DIRECT FROM THE NON-PROFIT
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!
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Berkshire Community Diaper Project
To apply to be a recipient of Every Penny Counts visit our donations page, complete and submit the application form for future consideration. For more information, please contact Amy our Marketing & Owner Relations Manager.
