Pashinski invites donations for Diaper Need Awareness Week
Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski September 30, 2024 | 4:19 PM
HARRISBURG, Sept. 30 – State Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski encourages residents to help area children and families by donating diapers during Diaper Need Awareness Week.
“I have been blessed with four children and seven grandchildren, who are grown up and in college or working jobs. I’m now buying diapers for a great grandchild, so I know the diaper experience, even though I’m not good at it,” said Pashinski, D-Luzerne, during a Capitol news conference.
“The kids are our future. We need to do whatever we can to help them along. Many Pennsylvania families don’t have the financial resources that many of us have experienced. By making people aware of this gap and promoting the diaper drives that are being held across the state, we can help children to grow up healthy and relieve a burden for so many people.”
According to the National Diaper Bank Network, one in two U.S. families struggles to provide enough diapers to keep a baby or toddler clean, dry, and healthy. A supply of diapers is often required for infants and toddlers to attend and participate in child care programs, which many working families depend upon to pursue and maintain employment. Unfortunately, three in five parents miss work or school because they cannot afford the diapers required to leave their children in child care.
But Pashinski said it’s not just an issue for children.
For seniors, incontinence products can cost up to $1,000 per year which can be unaffordable for many seniors with low or fixed incomes. According to the Western Pennsylvania Diaper Bank, adult diapers cost almost three times the price of infant diapers and are not covered by Medicare or many insurance programs.
In conjunction with Diaper Need Awareness Week, Pashinski is partnering with legislative colleagues to host the 10th annual Capitol Diaper Drive. During the weeks of Sept. 23 and 30, packages of new, unopened diapers and incontinence products, as well as monetary donations, are being collected. Collection bins are located outside their offices and drop off bins are located in the Capitol Rotunda and the East Wing Rotunda.