West Plains, Mo. – Last month Diaper Resource Center-West Plains (DRC) got a call from Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico with an offer of eight pallets of diapers, ours at no charge if we could arrange shipping. Crockett Oaks, Director, Business and Support Services at Missouri State University-West Plains was serving with the U. S. Army there and facilitated the offer.
This week we checked those pallets into donated warehouse space at Ozark Action, Inc. The final count of 48,916 diapers will greatly enhance our efforts to end diaper need in Howell County and the seven surrounding counties our distributing agencies serve.
Our thanks go out to Crockett Oaks for recognizing the opportunity, Terry Sanders and Ozark Action for their continued support in allowing us to warehouse this huge addition to our inventory, TCI Leasing for the discounted freight cost, and our DRC board for quick action to take advantage of this unique offer.
As of this month DRC has provided over 200,000 disposable diapers to our distributing agencies, in addition to the cloth diaper kits available through the Howell County Health Department.
Current distributing agencies include His Place House of Worship Diaper Ministry, Martha Vance Samaritan Outreach Center, and Christos House. Select clients are also served through the Howell County Health Department, 37th Division Childrens Services, Ozark Action Early Head Start, and the Chaos Closet. Individuals with needs should contact those agencies directly with inquiries.
Donations of disposable diapers can be dropped off at Ozark Action Inc. (OAI), 710 E. Main St., West Plains, MO 65775. OAI provides DRC with warehouse space for diapers. Diapers can be left at OAI, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays, all year long. Fiscal management, allowing for financial contributions to be tax-deductible, is provided by the Community Interagency Council.
Area churches, businesses, organizations, or individuals who wish to contribute toward addressing diaper need in our area may inquire at diaperresourcecenter@gmail.com, by phone to 417-256-6147, or by mail at P O Box 1773, West Plains, MO 65775. Presentations are available for groups on request. Check our Facebook page under Diaper-Resource-Center-West-Plains for updates.
Any Howell County group wishing to apply as a distributing agency should email or phone for an application.
