Angi Hejduk has taken a common dilemma of parenting and created a nonprofit program that has helped more than 600 area youths already this year.
And this week the Give What You Got program is launching a donation drive called Happy Bottoms in hopes of collecting 7,000 diapers in seven days.
Give What You Got started simply. Hejduk, an Overland Park mother of two boys, was lamenting with her friends about what to do with the clothes and toys their children were outgrowing.
The group of moms first considered holding a yard sale, but somehow that didn‘t seem right to them.
“We thought there has to be a better use than creating piles,” Hejduk said.
So the women began contacting charities and eventually decided to help Cornerstones of Care, a Kansas City nonprofit that provides therapeutic treatment services to about 2,000 children and families through some of the area’s best-known facilities: Gillis, Marillac, Ozanam and Spofford.
The first Give What You Got program was a birthday club, where birthday packages for children in foster care were created from donated items.
“There are 3,000 kids in foster care (in the area). That’s a pretty daunting number,” Hejduk said. “That’s a lot of kids who don’t have the same advantages as our kids.
“I think everyone deserves to know that their birthday is worth being celebrated.”
Give What You Got gained such momentum it became a program of Cornerstones of Care.
Hejduk said the diaper drive, which began Sunday and will end Saturday, isn’t an original idea.
“It seems to be sweeping the country,” she said. “There are no subsidies for diapers. They are $40 a box, and a newborn can go through 200 diapers a month. It’s a no-brainer.”
Because diapers are not considered “consumable” products, low-income families can’t get diapers and baby wipes through federal food stamps and the Women, Infants and Children program.
There are 12 drop-off locations to collect the 7,000 diapers this week, which is National Family Week.
“I totally expect to exceed that number,” Hejduk said.
Cornerstones of Care’s president and chief executive officer, Denise Cross, said diapers are a critical need for families trying to survive financially in this tough economy.
“If you can’t afford diapers, you cannot take your child to child care,” Cross said.
And not being to take your child to child care begins a vicious cycle of not being to go to work, school or job training, she said.
Hejduk said the diaper drive — which is being organized by Jill Gaikowski, a mom of two — is a great example of the community’s strength.
“There are so many needs, and there are so many people with great ideas,” Hejduk said. “All you have to do is connect them and help.”
Blue Springs: Children’s Orchard, 1722 Missouri 7
Independence: Children’s Orchard, 4201 S. Noland Road
Leawood: Gobug Baby & Kids, 11530 Ash St.; Learning Tree, 11536 Ash St.
Kansas City: Little House, 335 E. 55th St.; Children’s Orchard, 6242 N. Chatham Ave.
Overland Park: Bike Source, 11500 W. 135th St.
Olathe: Children’s Orchard, 11933 S. Strang Line Road
Lee’s Summit: Kiddos Collection, 5 S.W. Fourth St., Suite B; Children’s Orchard, 1551 N.E. Douglas St.
Prairie Village: Mady & Me, 6943 Tomahawk Road; Learning Tree, 4004 W. 83rd St.
For more information, call 913-544-6041, send e-mail to info@ givewhatyougot.org or go to www. givewhatyougot.org or www.happybottoms.org.
Good Connections tells stories of people who are giving — and getting — help. If you have a story idea, call Debra Skodack at 816-234-4738 or send e-mail to dskodack@kcstar.com.
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