United Way of Mid Coast Maine is hosting a Community Diaper Drive to celebrate Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.

Sometimes, due to work changes, family illness or other circumstances, parents are temporarily left without the resources to purchase enough diapers for their babies.

“It’s nice to be able to give the families I visit diapers when they’re needed. For some families, that’s what gets them through the week,” said Heather Elowe, Maine Families Home Visitor.

Being unable to provide a baby with a fresh diaper can lead to diaper rash, illness and infections and leads to a baby who will cry — a lot. Conditions like these cause undue stress on both baby and parent and can impact a baby’s mental and physical health.

Diapers cost from $500 to over $1,000 per year per child. For a parent earning $15,600 (working full-time at Maine’s minimum wage of $7.50/hour) that’s three to six percent of their income.

Since the purchase of diapers is not covered by the SNAP (formerly Food Stamps) or the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program there are few places a parent can turn. Additionally, most childcare centers require parents to provide a day's supply of disposable diapers which means that without diapers, the parent could miss work.

To help keep all babies in clean diapers you can send a check to United Way of Mid Coast Maine Diaper Project or give online at www.uwmcm.org/diapers. Gifts in honor of moms and dads, or soon to be moms and dads, can be recognized. Donations will be directed back to an organization in the donor’s community.

Diapers, including open packages, can be dropped off at the Boothbay Region YMCA, the Family Care Center St. Andrews Campus, the St. Andrews Campus Urgent Care Center, the Wiscasset Community Center, Waldoboro Town Hall and the Yellowfront Grocery in Damariscotta.

All diapers are distributed through organizations in the community in which they are collected.

Groups can also host their own diaper drive using United Way’s Diaper Drive Toolkit. The Brunswick Golf Club was the first organization to run a diaper drive and they raised the equivalent of 3,300 diapers.

For more information or to get involved, call United Way at 207-443-9752 or contact Maria at mariah@uwmcm.org or go online to www.uwmcm.org/diapers.