Dupage Policy Journal

State Rep. Deanne Mazzochi (R-Elmhurst) said she is holding a drive to collect diapers and other baby items for families in need.

“Starting tomorrow across the district I am collecting diapers and other associated products for a holiday drive to benefit the Elmhurst/Yorkfield Food Pantry and Hinsdale food pantry,” she wrote on Facebook.

PBS wrote approximately 5 million babies and toddlers live in low-income families and struggle to get diapers.

Mazzochi said in a Facebook post that in an effort to support families in need who could be struggling even more lately due to inflation, she is holding a drive to collect diapers, baby wipes, soaps, and ointments. The drive will run from Nov. 10 through 18. Items can be dropped off at several locations in Hinsdale: the Hinsdale Bank and Trust on 1st Street, the Better Homes and Gardens on Washington Street, and the Hinsdale Fire Department on Symond Drive. In Elmhurst, items can be dropped off at the Fire Department at City Hall on York Street, the Elmhurst Library on Prospect Avenue, and the Station 2 Fire Department on York Street. Items can also be dropped off at Rep. Mazzochi's office on Cass Avenue in Westmont.

CBS News reported in July that diaper prices had increased by 20% in the last year.

For more information, call Mazzochi’s office at (630) 852-8633.

“As we move on from Halloween and into the season of being thankful and the giving of gifts, I am asking for the community’s help in keeping babies in need clean, dry, and healthy this holiday season,” Mazzochi said in a press release. “Unfortunately, thanks to federal rules, Illinois mothers down on their luck cannot use SNAP benefits to purchase diapers and related products and inflation is making an already costly problem worse.” 

Mazzochi said that diapers for one child cost almost $1,000 per year. “I am asking the community to help me spread the love and good blessings this holiday season to those who are down on their luck.”