The Shorecrest Upper School Human Rights Club recently sponsored its 2nd Annual Diaper Drive with the goal of collecting 1,923 diapers (a number chosen by the club to honor Shorecrest’s centennial) for
Babycycle, a community diaper bank serving Pinellas County. In a single school week, donations of diapers of various brands, sizes, and types (disposable, eco-friendly, overnights, pull-ups) were donated by staff, faculty, students and family members, and the drive ended up yielding a monumental 2,079 diapers!
Human Rights Club Faculty Sponsor Heather Elouej said of the drive’s success, “The Shorecrest community was quick to act with its usual magnanimity when we announced a call for diapers; this was our second drive and the second time we exceeded our goal. We received diapers from numerous staff members, faculty, Upper School students and their families, the Advancement team, the Lower School, and the Middle School. The HRC is so grateful to the Shorecrest family for providing this form of comfort for little ones across Pinellas County.”
According to Babycycle one in three parents in the US struggle to provide their children with the needed amount of clean diapers. This means that a staggering number of children are sitting in unclean diapers for extended periods of time, placing them at high risk for severe diaper rash and infections. Diapers are not covered by any government assistance programs even though diapers are a necessity for every child, and according to the National Diaper Bank Network, without diapers babies cannot participate in early childhood education programs. Without child care, parents cannot go to work. Children who participate in early childhood education are almost three times more likely to go on to higher education.
