AAUW diaper drive helps South Bay’s youngest residents.
The pandemic is causing problems for the South Bay’s youngest residents, as agencies that have traditionally provided a safety net for financially tapped families have seen an unprecedented surge in demand for basic necessities, and those necessities include diapers.
“Diapers are one of the few things we don’t have a budget for,” Terri West of Sacred Heart Community Service in San Jose said. “All our diapers, wipes and infant formula are based on donations.”
West said Sacred Heart currently serving 500 to 800 households per day and these families are requesting larger-size packages of baby supplies, which cost more,
“Diapers are also given in our baby layettes for new moms,” she said.
Sacred Heart was one of the beneficiaries of a diaper and baby wipe drive held last month by the San Jose branch of the American Association of University Women, or AAUW. Organizers said they collected 5,475 diapers and 12,900 baby wipes from AAUW members, who dropped off the items at the branch’s Willow Glen headquarters.
Next Door Solutions, a nonprofit that provides services to victims of domestic violence, was another beneficiary. Esther Peralez-dieckmann of Next Door Solutions said that since the onset of the pandemic, people have struggled to obtain basic necessities such as food, clothes and toiletries.
“The level of need during COVID-19 is unlike anything we have seen in our 50 years in operation,” Peralez-dieckmann said. “Many times survivors are fleeing a situation and come to us with little more than the clothes on their back. We want to make sure that every mother has plenty of diapers and other items to care for their children.”
Willow Glen residents Mary Jane Vitkovich and Judy Burt and Campbell resident Karelle Cornwell organized the AAUW diaper drive and reached out for donations from other branches.
“It is shocking how expensive diapers are,” said AAUW member Vickie Vonbergen, a Los Gatos resident. “If you have limited income, where do you spend the money? If you don’t have that kind of essential item, how do you manage?”