Good Shepherd Parish Collects over 10,000 diapers for the Diaper Depot at Tempo in Framingham

For their first annual diaper drive, members of Good Shepherd Parish in Wayland collected over 10,000 diapers to stock the shelves at Tempo, a one-stop resource center in Framingham for young adults with extra challenges. Father Jim Laughlin characterized the event as “uplifting for the parish community.”

Inspired by Elodie Carel, a Wayland Girl Scout whose Gold Award project resulted in a diaper pantry for young parents in need, Good Shepherd Parish has agreed to hold a yearly diaper drive to support these families in need.

The National Diaper Bank Network defines diaper need as the lack of a sufficient supply of diapers to keep an infant or toddler clean, dry and healthy. Unfortunately, this affects nearly 6 million babies in the U.S. ages 3 or younger who live in poor or low-income families. One in three American families struggle with diaper need and government programs do not cover them, as they do not recognize diapers as a basic need.

Over the span of three weeks, parishioners donated the diapers, as well as wipes, creams, and other supplies. Carel calculated that with Tempo's current needs, the supplies should last three months.