Diaper drive extended to Oct. 5

As diapers are a much needed item at the Hawkeye Area Community Action Program (HACAP) shelter in Washington, the 40-plus members of the Washington Builders Club at Washington Middle School are collecting diapers as part of a service project.

Since Monday, Sept. 24, over 1,000 of the 1,500 diaper goal have been collected. Adviser Erin Almelein said the drive has been extended through Oct. 5. She said the drive was started to participate in National Diaper Awareness Week.

‘We contacted HACAP and they said they would love donations,” Almelein said. 'They really need size 3, 4, and 5 for the older kids. They already have quite a few for the younger ones.”

She explained national statistics show one in three families struggle to buy diapers and that there is no federal assistance program to help purchase diapers. She said food stamps cannot be used to purchase diapers. The Builders Club decided this was a worthy cause to do as a project.

Almelein said the closest diaper bank in the area is in Cedar Rapids, but she felt if a family can't afford diapers they also can't afford to ge to Cedar Rapids. She said she had reached out to HACAP, figuring the diapers collected could be donated back into the community.

The next service project the Builders Club has on its schedule is the Secret Santa project, in which the students will adopt families in need to purchase Christmas presents for.

Donation points in the community are located at Modern Eye Care, CBI Bank, Hills Bank, Federation Bank, YMCA Daycare, the Washington Middle School, Korner Kremery, Archers, Dodici's Shop, Immanuel Lutheran, the Washington Public Library and First Baptist Church. Diapers will be accepted at parent/teacher conferences at the middle school.