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During the month of October, City of Battle Ground employees organized and participated in a Diaper Drive to benefit the Battle Ground Adventist Community Services Diaper Bank.
The idea for the Diaper Drive came after Battle Ground Adventist Community Services Director Maury Parrish spoke at a city council meeting about their services and diaper bank – the only registered diaper bank in SW Washington. A diaper bank is a non-profit group that collects, stores, and distributes free diapers to families in need. Diapers are as essential to a child’s basic needs as food and shelter, yet state and national programs do not recognize diapers as a basic need.
When word spread about the need, city employees jumped at the chance to help. Deputy City Clerk Tamara Gunter coordinated efforts, and donations of diapers and baby wipes poured in throughout the month. By month’s end, city staff had donated a total of 2,008 diapers and 1,400 baby wipes.
“Most of us were not aware of this need,” said Kay Kammer, City Clerk and diaper drive organizer, “The drive allowed staff to be part of something meaningful and give back to the community.”
On Tuesday, November 5, Ms. Kammer and Ms. Gunter happily delivered the donated diapers and wipes to the diaper bank. They learned that the bank had provided 4,000 diapers to families in need during the month of October alone, and that the greatest need is for diaper sizes 4, 5 and 6.
City employees invite the community to learn more about diaper banks at nationaldiaperbanknetwork.org and to participate in donating diapers to the local bank. A purple collection bin has been placed in the city hall lobby to accept donations because every baby deserves to be clean, dry and healthy.