READING - The town’s citizenry shattered the expectations of those organizing the ‘diaper challenge’ late last month by donating more than three times the 10,000-diaper milestone set by Oak Ridge Road philanthropists Bill and Priscilla Squires.
According to the local couple, who have now led four townwide charity drives to bring needed food and essential supplies to those hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, the community essentially met 65 percent of the diaper goal during the first night of the three-day fundraising effort late last month.
“It was amazing to see hundreds of contributions dropped off in the bins, from the individual packages to the huge cases,” Bill Squires recently wrote in a letter to the town. “Thanks to the generosity of Reading’s townspeople, we far exceeded our goal of collecting 10,000 diapers! A total of more than 30,000 diapers from the Diaper Challenge were delivered to several organizations serving people in need: La Colaborativa in Chelsea, San Lucas Episcopal Church in Chelsea, Lawrence Family Development Inc., and the Reading Food Pantry.”
“What was especially wonderful was the number of people who helped with the whole effort, including with social media, flyer distribution, packaging and delivery of the diapers. More than a dozen people pitched in behind the scenes to make this drive so successful. And the many people who contributed, from a few diapers to a few hundred, made it so special,” the Oak Ridge Road resident added.
According to Priscilla Squires, with the drive set to coincide with the high-religious Easter and Passover holiday seasons, Reading residents forked over some 6,200 diapers during the first night of the three-day drive.
On Saturday, residents dropped off scores of containers and boxes containing another 9,900 diapers. On the last-days of the end-of-March drive, 5,500 diapers were left in bins set out in front of the Reading family’s home.
As Squires explained, by the time online contributions were tallied alongside with matching donations pledged by a handful of corporate sponsors, those partaking in the ‘diaper challenge’ had given more than 30,000 diapers to the cause.
“This total was before we added in the diapers purchased from people’s Venmo donations and the diapers contributed by the two companies who provided the match,” said Priscilla Squires, referring to tally board left in-front of her home during the challenge that referenced 21,500 in-person diaper donations.
The three-day “diaper challenge” occurred between March 26 and March 28.
After organizing two successful food collection drives when the COVID-19 pandemic first struck last spring, the Squires family shifted to the charity challenge format for the first time late last year with a New Year’s Eve weekend peanut butter challenge.
Setting a goal of collecting 500 jars of peanut butter in three-days, Medford’s Teddie Peanut Butter sweetened the pot by offering to match that donation — if Reading residents could meet the target.
Ultimately, local citizens turned out in droves in shattered that goal — a total of 1,600 jars of peanut butter and an unspecified number of jelly and Fluff donations were collected during the three-day drive.
According to Bill Squires, he and his wife are already meeting with other charity organizers to plan a spring clothing drive that would tenatively be held over the long Memorial Day weekend next month.
“This same group is now moving on to plan a Spring clothing drive over Memorial Day weekend for those in need, and we’ll send in an announcement as the time gets closer,” he explained in his recent letter.
“In the meantime, it would be great if people can please can set aside any new or gently used clothes in a bag for the upcoming drive. One organization has asked for gently used sneakers and shoes. Other items needed include spring and fall coats, sweatshirts, women’s tops and dresses, new socks and new underwear, and gently used pants for children and adults. We will get them to people in need,” the Oak Ridge Road resident added.
April 21, 2021 at 03:00AM
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Townspeople shatter 'diaper challenge' fundraiser targets | Reading | homenewshere.com - Woburn Daily Times
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