Submitted by Jerusha Oleksiuk
Mother’s Day is often celebrated by showering the women in our lives with beautiful flowers, heartfelt cards, and taking them on special outings to show them how much they mean to us. Yet, many low-income mothers living in our community struggle each day to provide the basics for their babies.
Diapers are a necessity yet one in three families in the United States lack an adequate supply for their children. It costs approximately $1000 per year to diaper one child. As you can imagine, the physical, mental and emotional stress that this puts on mothers can be high. In fact, studies show that lack of diapers is more distressing to mothers than not having enough food for their families.
Moms Helping Moms Foundation (MHMF) is a baby supply and diaper bank located in North Plainfield, NJ and serves Somerset, Union, Essex, Hudson and Morris counties. The organization held a Mother’s Day campaign to raise dollars and diapers to support local mothers. The generosity and response from the community was overwhelming. 19 businesses and individuals hosted diaper drives and/or collected funds. As a result, 14,276 diapers and $4,800 have been donated. MHMF distributes 300,000 essentials to approximately 11,500 individuals each year. The donations received will ensure that diapers and other necessities efficiently and quickly go directly to those in need.
One of our diaper drive hosts was North Plainfield Nissan. North Plainfield Nissan is an avid supporter of MHMF. They donated $2,000 to the Mother’s Day campaign along with 900 diapers. Sam Asman, General Manager of the dealership, commented, “When I first learned about the great work Moms Helping Moms was doing to help women and children in our area I immediately wanted to support their mission. We care deeply about our community and partnering with Moms Helping Moms is an important way of giving back. We hope our support alleviates stress for moms who are struggling to provide necessities for their kids.”
Moms Helping Moms Foundation relies deeply on community support. Bridget Cutler, founder of Moms Helping Moms Foundation said, “The response to our Mother’s Day campaign has just been incredible. We are a small, local nonprofit that depends on the generosity of our supporters to help ensure that families’ basic needs are met. Diapers, wipes and baby hygiene items are always in high demand. We cannot thank our supporters enough for all they do to help us further our mission and reach more families.”
The complete list of the Mother’s Day campaign supporters includes: Avalon Midwives/Laidback Lactation/Our Birthing Center, Bridgewater Branch Library, Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc., The Candid xChange, Chocopain – Hoboken, Circle of Life Chiropractic, Cristina Toff, E.A. Boniakowski Insurance, Indigo Gymnastics, Kaplan Cooperative Preschool, La Leche League of Jersey City/Hoboken, Little Bee Learning Studio, Mission Chiropractic, New Providence Dentistry, North Plainfield Nissan, Sadie’s, Sproutlings of New Providence, Temple Manuel-Westfield, and Washington Elementary School.
About Moms Helping Moms Foundation:
MHMF’s mission is to provide the basics so babies can have a safe, happy and healthy start. Together with their supporters, MHMF is working to end diaper need and fight childhood poverty in New Jersey. More information about Moms Helping Moms Foundation is available at www.momshelpingmomsfoundation.org.
(above) North Plainfield Nissan presented a check of $2,000 to the Moms Helping Moms Foundation’s Mother’s Day campaign. The campaign received support from the community to raise $4,800 and 4,276 diapers to help moms provide essentials for their babies.
