The goal of the Central Jersey Diaper Bank (CJDB) is to hold 50 diaper drives during Diaper Need Awareness Week in September.
From Sept. 23-29, Executive Director Ginny Adams Kafka hopes area residents will donate 100,000 diapers in support of the year-long estimate of 250,000.
“The cost of diapers went up,” said Kafka, a mother in her own right. “A diaper drive is a way people experience the power of collaboration and the power of many.”
She is seeking residents, churches, YMCAs, childcare centers, social organizations and businesses who would like to participate with a diaper drive of their own. If a collection bin and flier are needed, they can be provided; or, she said, a simple Facebook post can alert families and friends to send the CJDB packages directly via Amazon.
“We want to try to leverage the power of social media to get people involved in a meaningful way,” Kafka said.
The diaper bank is also seeking volunteers to separate diaper packages and sort baby clothes.
The Anshe Emeth Community Development Corporation began in 2000, and began its diaper bank in 2010. 2019 is the third year of the diaper drive; 11,000 were collected in 2017, followed by 36,000 in 2018, Kafka said.
The diaper bank generally administers 150,000 diapers to 100,000 Middlesex County families each year, but Kafka expects the numbers to rise to 250,000 diapers for up to 2,000 families. She said according to The United Way, there are 14,000 babies in the county whose parents cannot buy both food and diapers.
“We are the only safety net organization in this region of the state addressing this need,” she said.
To join the diaper drive, even up until the day it begins, email [email protected].