6 days Ago
Michela Hugo , founder of the CNY Diaper Bank, stands amid pallets of diapers in a 2019 photo. Stan Linhorst Za'Tozia Duffie | [email protected] Syracuse, N.
Y. The CNY Diaper Bank is accepting donations through their website until Jan. 1 that can double the number of diapers that reach local families in need.
Donations up to $7,500 this season will be matched by the Jim and Juli Boeheim Foundation. As of last week, the diaper bank was about three-quarters away from that goal, according to Michela Hugo, the organization’s founder. If the bank raises $7,500, it means the non-profit can purchase 100,000 diapers to give away this holiday season.
The diaper bank is currently the largest in New York state and works with a network of partner agencies to distribute an average of 200,000 diapers to 4,000 local babies and toddlers each month. Hugo founded CNY Diaper Bank in 2016 after surveying organizations in Syracuse and learning they did not have diapers to give families who needed them. “When you’re struggling to buy food, if you have young children, you’re definitely struggling to buy diapers, and oftentimes, families are choosing between buying food or buying diapers,” she said.
Just this month, new U.S. Census numbers showed Syracuse has the nation’s worst child poverty rate among other large cities.
Diapers aren’t covered by governmental assistance programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or by Women, Infants and Children (WIC). To help this cause, you can volunteer, drop diapers off at their office in Liverpool or donate online . “We can purchase two to three times as many diapers through our bulk purchasing than someone could at a store,” she said.
“Even if it’s something as little as $5 or $10 we can make that stretch a lot farther.” If you need diapers you can call 2-1-1 and ask for Help Me Grow to be connected to resources..
