Thanks to you, babies get a healthy start

Thursday, June 18, 2015

A group from Kimberly-Clark Corporation volunteered to repack diapers for the Fox Cities Diaper Bank.

Contributor: Nanci Micke, Vice President of Marketing and Communications at United Way Fox Cities (Excerpt from Post-Crescent op-ed published June 16. Read the full op-ed online.)

I think everyone has heard the saying "It takes a village to raise a child." Five years ago, United Way Fox Cities gathered community partners representing nonprofits, the faith community, businesses, health care and the media to launch the Fox Cities Diaper Bank. Our goal was to provide diapers for families that were struggling to provide basic needs.

This initiative has grown beyond any of the dreams we had when we first met in 2010 to establish our framework. We are committed to the mission of keeping our babies healthy, but we are the first to say that the success of the Fox Cities Diaper Bank is because this community has stepped forward to help give our babies a healthy start in life.

The Fox Cities Diaper Bank is providing over 400,000 diapers on an annual basis. From our pilot years when two organizations distributed diapers, we have expanded to 10 agencies. It has certainly taken a village to make this happen.

In 2011, The Post-Crescent hosted the first Dollars for Diapers campaign. More than $60,000 was raised that year, and those funds allowed the Fox Cities Diaper Bank to become a true bank. We were able to stock diapers in the sizes that the community needed. We could now provide enough diapers to ease the cost burden for our families in need.

This year's Dollars for Diapers Campaign presented by Kimberly-Clark Cares and Huggies is taking place through Father's Day, June 21st. Donations can be made at cffoxvalley.org or by following the information in Dollars for Diapers ads in the Post-Crescent. Checks to The Post-Crescent Community Fund should be mailed to The Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region, 4455 W. Lawrence St., Appleton, WI 54914.

Packages of diapers, sealed or open, and supplies, should be dropped off in The Post-Crescent lobby at 306 W. Washington St. in Appleton. Other collection sites include Badger Globe, Evergreen, Fox Communities, Prospera and St. Elizabeth Employees credit unions.

Your donation can make a big difference in helping babies stay clean, healthy and dry. We appreciate your support!