For the Reporter

Volunteers with Machinists Union District Lodge 751 are once again helping women and families in crisis by collecting diapers and baby wipes.

The union’s second annual March of Diapers drive continues throughout the month. Machinists and community members can drop off donations at any IAM 751 union hall in Puget Sound, including the Auburn Union Hall at 201 A St. SW.

The diapers and wipes will be distributed to families living in domestic violence shelters, and to organizations that help low-income families, including the Multi-Family Services Center in Federal Way.

“We’re trying to make a difference, one tushy at a time,” said Rob Curran, the chairman of the Machinists Volunteer Program, which is the community service arm of District 751.

Last year, union members contributed more than 15,000 diapers and close to 3,000 baby wipes.

“We’d like to increase those numbers this year,” Curran said. “This is certainly a situation in which more is better.”

Advocates say diapers are a critical item for families trying to escape from domestic abuse or get themselves out of poverty. Infants can routinely soil 10 to 12 diapers a day, while toddlers can use up to eight. The cost — between $100 and $120 a month — is not covered under any social safety net programs, and as a result, about a third of low-income mothers report running out of clean diapers regularly.

To cope, many mothers end up keeping soiled diapers on their babies longer, which leads to rashes, infections and other health problems, and babies who cry because their diapers are soiled are more likely to become abused.

“All of us who are parents understand how important diapers are,” said IAM 751 President Jon Holden. “Our union is committed to making things better for all our neighbors, especially the littlest ones.”