On Sunday afternoon I made a video clip of youth group members feeling awkward. You might ask why they were feeling awkward, after such a hugely delicious and successful BBQ fundraiser, when they ought to have been mostly feeling proud and maybe a little bit exhausted. Well, despite having spent the whole morning cooking and serving, these youth were ready and willing to keep working on our fundraiser. And what they did was to walk into various stores in Montclair Village, screw up all their courage to overcome embarrassment, and buy diapers. They got some rude looks and some carefully worded questions, and they all spent some time feeling extremely uncomfortable.
A good fundraiser has two parts. The first part is putting money to good use, and thanks to you, we have achieved that goal. When the receipts are all reimbursed and tallied up we expect we will send $900 to Help A Mother Out for their diaper distribution service. The second part is raising awareness, and that’s a trickier goal. We know that diapers are not covered by SNAP or WIC, and that impoverished families are struggling to keep their babies clean and dry. We know that a supply of disposable diapers can make the difference for a kid to be able to go to daycare, thus enabling their parent to go to work (daycares usually don’t accept cloth diapers, nor do most laundromats allow you to wash them). We know that corner stores are selling single diapers at a huge mark-up because some families can’t afford to buy them one package at a time. Statistics and figures can make these facts plain. But it’s harder to put your finger on why teenage girls get the stink-eye from fellow shoppers in the diaper aisle, or why our society believes in individual rather than communal responsibility for babies. Our teens felt just a taste of what it would be like to have social disdain directed at them. They are ready to be more empathetic and to stand in solidarity, now, with those who are being judged.
Now through Mother’s Day (May 10th) we will have a diaper bin at MPC collecting donated diapers. No matter your age, we hope you will buy some diapers to put in that bin. Size 3-5 are the most badly needed. If you are younger or older than “typical” parent ages, you might confuse people or get some stares when you pick up the diapers. But we are coming together and striking out against the judgment that shames people for their family situations, and we are trying to build a community where all of us – young, old, or in-between – can say to one another “we’ve got your back.”
Blessings,
Talitha