STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- After seeing a need in the community, 2021 North Shore City Council candidate Amoy Barnes decided to host a community baby shower in Park Hill.
During the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, low-income communities have been hit hard, and Barnes said she saw a huge need for mothers to have access to diapers and baby supplies.
Diapers are in particularly high demand, Barnes told the Advance/SILive.com. “Diapers are very expensive, and we know that during [COVID-19], when you look at what population is highly affected, it’s women and children,'' she said. I hadn’t seen anything done that provided free diapers, but I knew that it could be done."
Upon coming up with the idea, Barnes reached out to The Muslim Sisters of Staten Island, an all-volunteer organization that aids women and children, to start organizing the event.
“When Amoy came to me about a diaper drive, I was like, ‘no problem, let’s see what we can do to put this thing together,'" said Safiyyah Abdul-Quwiyy, of The Muslim Sisters of Staten Island. “We’re trying to bridge some of the gaps that have been happening since COVID-19, and even before then. We do have a community that always has needs.”
Barnes and Abdul-Quwiyy partnered with a wealth of community partners to make the event possible, including Assemblyman Charles Fall, Bait-ul Jamaat, Empowerment Zone, Health Education Project, Staten Island University Hospital, Project Hospitality, SkyCare RX, Emblem Health, MetroPlus, United Activities Unlimited, African Refugee, Community Health Center of Richmond, Fidelis Care, and End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence of the mayor’s office.
The event took place at the Park Hill Promenade, where a variety of stands were set up. (Staten Island Advance/Rebeka Humbrecht)
Together, they teamed up with Little Essentials, a city non-profit providing assistance to children living in poverty, and managed to have more than 4,000 diapers donated.
Barnes rented a van to go to Little Essentials and brought back the diapers and other baby supplies to the local community. On Tuesday afternoon, she hosted the event at the Park Hill Promenade to give them away.
The diapers ranged in size. Mothers were also able to bring home baby wipes, books, clothing, baby wash and more.
For community members that may not have been able to attend the event, the partners will also be dropping donations off at local centers for pick-up.
On the promenade, there were also a variety of stands, where families could find valuable resources and educational materials.
Education is one of the most important parts of these events, said Minnie Graham, of Empowerment Zone.
“In every event we have, we don’t like to just give away, we like to educate and we like to have the community become more civically engaged,” said Graham. “We can give this away at this particular time, but giving away doesn’t empower someone to be able to do for themselves.”
At the events, attendees are asked about their needs, if they’re registered to vote, if they need help with remote learning services, and more. Pamphlets for different services were also available at all of the stands.
Barnes mentioned that she hopes to hold events like this in the future.
“I always say ‘it takes a village,’ and this, literally and figuratively, is the village, and we’re in the courtyard, the village square,” she said.
The Link LonkOctober 22, 2020 at 07:02PM
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Community baby shower provides baby supplies to mothers in need - SILive.com
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