Pro-Life Committee's diaper drive reflects community commitment and compassion to aid pregnant and parenting mothers across the Diocese of Norwich
Even before the Dobbs decision, which reversed Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) asked parishes to support mothers in need with a nationwide, parish-based initiative called Walking with Moms in Need. Its purpose is to increase support for pregnant and parenting mothers in need. The Holy Trinity Pro-Life Committee, composed of parishioners from St. John’s Church in Old Saybrook, St. Mark’s Church in Westbrook and Christ the King in Old Lyme, has taken on this initiative. Our first step in this process was to contact the pregnancy care centers in our diocese to identify the resources available to moms through the centers and to determine how our parishes could support the centers in meeting the ongoing needs of their clients. The most obvious and simple need we could address quickly for all the pregnancy care centers was diapers for infants and toddlers.
The Holy Trinity Pro-Life Committee responded by running a diaper drive to benefit the clients of the pregnancy centers located in the Norwich Diocese. We collected diapers and baby wipes during July. Parishioners generously donated 7,091 diapers and 209 packages of wipes. Purchasing diapers and baby wipes is a baby step on the part of parishioners; however, the material support for the moms and families is substantial.
Members of the committee volunteered to collect the donations and distribute them to the pregnancy care centers: ABC Women’s Center in Middletown, Anchor of Hope in New London, Eastern Connecticut Women’s Center in Willimantic and Birthright in Westbrook and New London. Lisa Maloney, LMFT, executive director of Anchor of Hope, stated in her thank you note to the committee: “It is exciting to provide our clients with items that communicate a simple yet profound message: We care about you!” This sentiment, “we care about you,” is exactly what the USCCB’s Walking with Moms in Need initiative is aiming to convey.
Every pregnancy care center the committee visited provides a warm, welcoming and comforting environment for their clients. Each center offers a life-affirming environment. A young mother of two from Anchor of Hope stated she didn’t know how she would make it without the support and assistance from the center. The consistent message she receives from the center is that she is not alone. The goal of pregnancy care centers is to promote a culture of life. -Holy Trinity Pro-Life Committee
By Deacon Mark Desrosiers