Shoreline-Bare Necessities, Inc., a non-profit dedicated to providing diapers and wipes to those in need, has kicked off its fifth annual Diaper Drive in cooperation with many of the shoreline police departments. Tina Bascom, president of the organization, said the drive’s goal is not only to provide these desperately needed items, but to also raise awareness of how critical the need actually is.

Bascom said their services are critical for young families who are burdened by increasingly stressful financial issues. The cost of diapers, especially for anyone with restricted income can be overwhelming, according to Bascom.

“The main need for families comes down to the fact that most day care require a full day’s supply of disposable diapers for every day that the child is there. Therefore, if a family cannot afford that, their child cannot go there and they cannot go to work,” said Bascom. “On average a family with a diaper need misses four days of work a month, and when you think about that, you have no opportunity to advance in your job. If you’re going to school, missing that much of your education makes it impossible to get a leg up.”

According to Bascom, the organization’s mission is to provide diapers and wipes to those in need through local pantries and community service organizations. Their vision is to ensure that families in need will be able to live in diaper stress-free environments and have access to all basic needs.

Bascom said to accomplish this, Bare Necessities partners with social service agencies and food pantries along the shoreline to be able to supply diapers and the organization is the only recognized diaper bank on the Connecticut shoreline.

The organization relies heavily on support from local communities and the need is an ever-looming problem, according to Bascom.

“One thing we want people to know is that we can’t do this without community support. We are extremely grateful to our communities and our relationship with law enforcement through this drive has been tremendous,” said Bascom. “We are so grateful for every opportunity we have and every person we meet. Getting the word out about this is very rewarding for us.

“People ask whether a drive was successful, and it’s great to look at the number of items we provide, but for me personally and most of our board, we don’t necessarily measure our success by that…It’s all about the number of people [who] are aware of diaper need,” she continued. “That is the success of the drive. How many people can we reach and inform of diaper need is what makes the drive successful.”

Guilford Police Chief Butch Hyatt said his department has participated every year and encouraged residents to become aware of how dire the need is for these items.

“It’s critically important. The shoreline have been working with Bare Necessities for all of the last five years collecting diapers and wipes,” said Hyatt departments. “We didn’t know before we started working with Bare Necessities just how in need the communities are for diapers. If you’ve been a parent you know, but the number of diapers that an infant or small child goes through on a daily basis is enormous. They are a lot of people who have trouble keeping up with that need, so we are grateful for the opportunity to assist.”

Bascom also said that raising awareness for this overlooked problem is critical to the organization’s goals. Some data cited by the organization’s website are sobering.

According to Bascom, the organization has grown from supporting five families in 2015 to currently supporting more than 275 families.

Some sobering statistics provided by Bare Necessities are below:

• One in three families in the U.S. have diaper need. Six to 12 diapers are needed per day for infants/toddlers at an average cost of $100 a month.

• Diapers and toiletries are not covered under safety net programs such as SNAP and WIC.

• Connecticut poverty statistics show that 38 percent of children under the age of 3 live below the poverty level.

• Statistics show that a pregnant mother will go without food in order to purchase diapers for a child.

• Children must have a full day’s worth of diapers to attend private or government daycare.

Anyone in need of diaper services or donations can contact the organization or also use any of the shoreline social services agencies or food pantries.

Diaper sizes 4 to 6 are most needed. Monetary and Amazon wishlist donations are also appreciated; details are available at barenecessitiesct.org.