Aurora food pantry launches Community Baby Shower campaign to collect essential items
The Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry is launching its first “Community Baby Shower” to collect diapers, feminine products, formula and other essential supplies and items for local mothers and their children.
The campaign is in response to the increasing requests for diapers, over the counter medicines, feminine hygiene products, formula and other items made by those visiting the pantry.
The Community Baby Shower started March 1 and continues to Monday, April 8. Similar to a traditional food drive, community members will have the opportunity to partner with the pantry and host a supply drive or drop off supplies at the pantry and other select locations.
The “Virtual Baby Shower” kicks off Friday, March 8, to coincide with International Women’s Day, allowing donations to be made online or purchased via gift registry.
“With an increase in families seeking food from the pantry every week, it seemed impossible to focus on anything else, even something as important as diapers,” said interim Executive Director Katie Arko. “That’s when our volunteers, board members, and staff came together to devise a plan to ensure that the pantry can offer diapers, wipes and feminine hygiene products to struggling mothers in the coming months.”
Leading the effort is Development Committee member Jessica Garrity. “Since the pandemic we have seen inflation that many people have never seen in their lifetimes. That’s when I decided to do a little research,” Garrity says. “What I found was astonishing. While the consumer price index does not track diaper costs, Nielsen reports that the cost of diapers has risen 22% since 2018. Additionally, diaper costs likely increased by as much as 10% during the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the federal minimum wage has remained at $7.25 It is a sad state of affairs for sure.”
The campaign is proving to be successful, with 14 businesses, churches and organizations in the Fox Valley area already signed on to host “diaper drives.”
More information on how to participate in the Community Baby Shower and the Virtual Baby Shower can be found on the pantry’s page for the event, www.aurorafoodpantry.org/baby_shower.
Founded in 1981, the Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry (colloquially referred to as “Aurora Food Pantry”) operates one of the largest food pantries in northern Illinois, distributing 3.6 million pounds of food each year to 182,281 visitors as of 2023. Its mission is to help end local hunger by ensuring that everyone has access to enough nourishing food, thereby helping our overall community stay healthy and productive. For more information, visit aurorafoodpantry.org.