United Way hosting diaper drive for Giving Tuesday

Josephine Moore, The Register-Herald, Beckley, W.Va.
·2 min read

Nov. 30—Following two big days of holiday shopping, the United Way of Southern West Virginia is asking the community for assistance to support some of the area's youngest residents.

The organization is hosting a diaper drive for Giving Tuesday for the Gabriel Project in Fayette County and the Beckley Dream Center in Raleigh County.

Trena Dacal, executive director of the United Way of Southern West Virginia (UWSWV), said both of these partners have baby needs pantries.

She added that they chose to request diapers because they're a fairly easy item to donate and it's easy for people to understand their importance.

"It's always easy if there's a tangible item that people can relate to, and diapers are a huge cost for parents that have infants and toddlers at home," Dacal said. "... but also, just with the increased cost of inflation this year, the record inflation, we've seen a lot more people making visits to local pantries who haven't had to utilize those services in the past.

"And food and baby pantries have also seen the cost of inflation as well in what they purchased to pass on to their clients. So we just wanted to find something that was a needed item in the community and that our local residents could relate to."

Dacal said community support is vital to the work UWSWV does.

"I can very proudly boast that 99 percent of the funds that we take in stay in our local community," she said. "It's really just a testament of how West Virginians and southern West Virginians support their neighbors, because West Virginia is known for that. We're always taking care of each other. We just appreciate the fact that people choose United Way to do that."

Dacal said UWSWV will be accepting diaper donations through the end of the week at their office located at 110 Croft St. in Beckley.

She added that they are also accepting monetary donations.

Campaign pledges or single donations can be made online at unitedwayswv.org, by calling 304-253-2111 to speak with a United Way representative or by mailing a contribution to: United Way of Southern WV, PO Box 5456, Beckley, WV 25801.

UWSWV serves dozens of nonprofit partners in Raleigh, Fayette, Nicholas, Summers, Wyoming, Mercer, and McDowell counties as well as the Greater Bluefield area.