Jamestown (Kiwanis) – The South Central Homeless Coalition received a large donation of diapers, wipes, and monetary contribution from the Minnesota-Dakotas District of Kiwanis International at their annual convention held in Jamestown in August.

Kiwanis International is a global community of clubs, members and partners dedicated to improving the lives of children one community at a time.

The Kiwanis donation consisted of 11,119 diapers (sizes new-born to 5T), 16 packs of wipes, along with a cash donation to purchase additional diapers. The South-Central Homeless Coalition is one of eight coalitions in North Dakota. It serves the nine-county region of Barnes, Dickey, Foster, Griggs, LaMoure, Logan, McIntosh, Stutsman (Jamestown), and Wells.

The donation was inventoried and distributed to several food banks in the coalition’s service area where they will be provided to families that really need them.

The Kiwanis donation concluded an earlier diaper drive where 1,718 diapers, 434 wipes and $150.00 in monetary donation was collected by City-County Health District in Valley City and donated to the Buffalo Bridges Human Service Zone with offices in Jamestown and Valley City. In all, a total of $752 was donated to purchase additional diapers and wipes.

Diapers are considered a basic need; however, most assistance programs don’t recognize them as such. Diapers are a huge financial burden for families with monthly costs averaging $70-80 per child.

The purpose of the South-Central Homeless Coalition’s purpose shall be to advocate, coordinate, and optimize services for homeless persons within Region 6 of the South Central Human Service Center.