Our roundup of the latest Wellesley community news:
Mental health awareness on library lawn
Wellesley has set up a flag and sign display on the lawn of Wellesley Free Library’s main branch to boost mental health awareness, and to remind individuals and families that Wellesley is here to help.
The Health Department, which has numerous mental health resources available, hopes the display will encourage more people locally to discuss the subject and seek support if needed.
Touch-a-Truck to collect food
Don’t miss the chance to peek into dump trucks, front loaders, and perhaps even a fire truck or a police cruiser. Bring a non-perishable food donation to help fill a bucket or a truck bed.
A variety of trucks will be open for visitors to explore on Saturday, May 22, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at DPW Headquarters (20 Municipal Way).
Also on Saturday, Wellesley Recycling & Disposal Facility (RDF) users can fill a truck with non-perishable food at the book exchange area.
All donated food will go to the Wellesley Food Pantry which currently serves approximately 400 clients in about 200 households in town. One third of clients are children 18 years old and younger. Suggested donations include chicken broth (low sodium or no salt), almond milk (plain, unsweetened), canned salmon, laundry detergent, canned beets, Dinty Moore beef stew, prunes, peanut butter in plastic jars, soy milk (plain, unsweetened), and vegetable oil.
When exploring the DPW trucks, please remember to cover your face if you can’t remain distant from others. Surfaces will be cleaned throughout the day.
Questions? Contact the Wellesley DPW by telephone at 781-235-7600 ext. 3300 or by email at [email protected]
Kids Backing Kids organizes diaper drive to help families in need
Kids Backing Kids, Inc. is accepting donations for its 1st annual Diaper Drive in Wellesley. Donations of diapers, pull-ups, and swimmers of all sizes (both new and opened packages) and new containers of baby wipes can be dropped off on Sat., May 22, 8am-3pm in the parking lot across from California Pizza Kitchen.
Then non-profit organization’s volunteers decided to organize a diaper drive upon learning that one in three families cannot afford diapers for their young children. “Diapers are really expensive and we thought that a community-wide diaper drive would be one small way that we could help families in need,” said Grace Rodrigue, co-founder of Kids Backing Kids and a senior at Wellesley High School. “Diapers and wipes are necessities in the first few years of life, costing families as much as $100 per month.”
The need for a diaper drive is greater than ever during the ongoing COVID pandemic. The cost of diapers rose over 8 percent in the last year. But that’s not the end of it. Kimberly-Clark and Proctor & Gamble—two of the big diaper makers—recently said that additional price increases are coming this summer. This will be another blow to low-income families already struggling to make ends meet.
The goal of the drive is to collect 10,000 diapers. “Kids Backing Kids represents the best of the young people in our community, and providing space for the diaper drive is our way to support their great initiative,” said Chris Fleming, Vice President, Asset
Management for Linden Square owner Federal Realty Investment Trust.
Can’t stop by Linden Square? Here are more ways to donate:
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Buy diapers online and ship/deliver to Kids Backing Kids, Inc., 73 Longfellow Road, Wellesley, MA 02481.
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Donate money through the Kids Backing Kids website and the organization will do the shopping for you.
For more information, contact Grace Rodrigue, Diaper Drive Coordinator, at [email protected] or (781) 690-9818.
About Kids Backing Kids
Kids Backing Kids, Inc. is a youth-led nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of children experiencing poverty, food insecurity, homelessness, and trauma by providing material goods, raising community awareness, and training the next generation of community leaders.
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