Many of the workers with the moving company Two Men and a Truck are parents themselves — parents who know firsthand how expensive diapers can be.
The national company prides itself on giving back to the community, and New Haven’s own Two Men and a Truck franchise decided to do so by helping with a local diaper drive. Local movers recently distributed donation boxes and then delivered 7,500 diapers and 5,700 wipes to New Reach, a New Haven-based organization that provides housing and services to at-risk families and individuals.
Mike Black, a mover, said, “As a dad myself, there’s nothing more fulfilling than going home at the end of the day knowing we made a difference in moving our community forward.”
The drive originally started about four years ago, when Kristen Plock and Jordan Jefferson of Yale University’s Working Women’s Network realized the cost of keeping their own infants clean and healthy in diapers. They wanted to help less fortunate mothers, and they contacted New Reach, and asked the greater Yale community to help. This started the annual Yale Working Women’s Network Diaper Drive for New Reach shelter.
Another moving company employee, John Palmieri, said he loved participating in the diaper drive.
“It’s really moving to see the generosity of the Yale community and appreciation of the team at New Reach,” he said.
Mary Grande, New Reach’s community engagement manager, said many don’t realize that diapers are a “critical element in helping to break the cycle of poverty for women.”
“Working moms cannot enroll a child in day care without disposable diapers,” she said.
