Many Berkshire Families Cannot Afford Diapers, Help is Here

One thing that I have learned and learned quickly since becoming a parent is diapers are expensive and the cost of diapers (like everything else) continues to rise. Thank goodness for my mother. She is my diaper fairy. Each week that she comes to visit me and my family, she shows up with a box of diapers, thank you mom.

Did You Know the Need for Diapers in Berkshire County Continues to Rise?

There are many families in the Berkshires that are having difficulty making ends meet and one of the items they struggle to afford is diapers. As a matter of fact, I recently spoke with Daltrey Turner who has been a board member for the Berkshire Community Diaper Project since the group's inception in 2014. Daltrey mentioned that since that year, the Berkshire Community Diaper Project has surpassed the 1.3 million mark for diaper distribution in Berkshire County. This solidifies the fact that the need for diapers in the Berkshires is great and as Daltrey mentioned in the interview the need increases year after year.

Daltrey also Discussed the Psychological Effects That Diaper Insufficiency Has on Parents

Diapers aren't a covered product either under food stamps or the WIC (Women Infants & Children) program and so people who are struggling financially do not have assistance to get diapers. A study was done down at the Yale New Haven School of Child Medicine and they learned that diaper insufficiency is more problematic for a parent's mental health than even food insufficiency and this is because there's so money programs to deal with food insufficiency but diaper insufficiency, not at all. Out of that, the Berkshire Community Diaper project was started in September 2014. Our organization raises money to specifically buy diapers and distribute them through food pantries and human service agencies throughout the entire county.

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How Can Berkshire County Residents Help Families That are Dealing with Diaper Insufficiencies?

The easiest way to help is to donate money by going here. The website has a Donate option as well as a Need Diapers option. The Need Diapers option has a list of locations throughout Berkshire county that offer diapers free of charge.

What if I Have Some Open Diaper Packages That I'm Not Going to Use Because My Little One is Too Big for Them? Should I Toss Them?

No. Absolutely do not throw away unused diapers even if the package has been opened. The Berkshire Community Diaper Project will gladly take those diapers off of your hands. The main site where you can go to drop off opened packages of diapers is Berkshire Nautilus, 42 Summer Street in Pittsfield. After Berkshire Nautilus receives them, the diapers get put into small packages and then they get distributed throughout the county. You can get more information about the Berkshire Community Diaper Project by going here. Diaper insufficiency is something that no family should have to go through.

KEEP READING: While we're talking about little ones, here are some popular baby names that you may want to consider.

KEEP READING: Here are the most popular baby names in every state

Using March 2019 data from the Social Security Administration, Stacker compiled a list of the most popular names in each of the 50 states and Washington D.C., according to their 2018 SSA rankings. The top five boy names and top five girl names are listed for each state, as well as the number of babies born in 2018 with that name. Historically common names like Michael only made the top five in three states, while the less common name Harper ranks in the top five for 22 states.

Curious what names are trending in your home state? Keep reading to see if your name made the top five -- or to find inspiration for naming your baby.

...And even more

LOOK: The most popular biblical baby names

To determine the most popular biblical baby names, Stacker consulted the name origin site Behind the Name and the Social Security Administration's baby names database then ranked the top 50 names from Behind the Name's Biblical Names origins list of 564 names, based on how many babies had been given these names in 2019. Click through to find out which biblical names have stood the test of time.