EVERETT — Amy Sykes is putting her life back together at the Everett Gospel Mission Women’s Shelter.
Only a few dollars remain in her bank account, and she has no other place to go.
If she were on her own and had to choose between diapers and outfitting her infant son in warm winter clothes, she doesn’t know which she would choose.
“That’s not a choice a mom should have to make,” she said Thursday afternoon, as she bounced and snuggled Giovanni, who jammed a fist into a gummy mouth.
Sykes doesn’t have to, thanks to the generosity of strangers who fill the nonprofit’s shelves with diapers and other supplies.
This year, the shelter is feeling the pinch of a down economy and needs donations more than ever, especially of diapers, baby wipes and toiletries, said Sylvia Anderson, chief operating officer for the Everett Gospel Mission.
“We try to provide these items,” she said. “We step in and give mom a break from these issues.”
If they don’t, moms staying at the shelter can find themselves trying to stretch a few diapers over a much longer time than they should, leading to diaper rash and an unhappy baby.
The shelter serves about 200 a night, including mothers with children. For whatever reason, the mission seems to have more infants than normal this year, she said.
Diapers are an especially important need for children at the shelter. Not only are they expensive, but children at the shelter tend to be potty-trained later.
“One thing people don’t realize about moms in the shelter is that with everything else going on, the last thing on their minds is doing potty training,” she said.
The unstable background of many children at the shelter also makes it more difficult. That’s why the shelter needs larger sizes of diapers.
A women’s ministry team at Snohomish Community Church, 13622 Dubuque Road, is hosting a holiday event Saturday partly to meet what they called an overlooked need: baby diapers, especially diapers in sizes 5 and 6.
About 500 women are expected to attend the event and hopefully bring a package or two of diapers, said Diane McCalmon, an organizer of the event.
The idea came from a magazine article about a woman who started a similar charity after she saw a woman putting a soiled diaper back on her child because she couldn’t afford to buy any new diapers.
“We were looking for ways to reach outside ourselves,” McCalmon said.
However, anyone can contribute diapers, pull-ups, baby wipes and other toiletries such as lotion, shampoo and toothpaste by contacting the shelter directly at 425-252-1297 or by dropping of items at the women’s shelter located at 5118 S. Second Ave., Everett.
Debra Smith: 425-339-3197, dsmith@heraldnet.com
If you go
Snohomish Community Church is hosting a holiday event at the church at 13622 Dubuque Road on Saturday partly to collect baby diapers, especially diapers in sizes 5 and 6, for children at the Everett Gospel Mission Women’s Shelter.
For more information or to attend, call Jane Etter, the church’s women’s ministry director, at 425-334-9181 or 425-308-6946.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
