The numbers are in and they are mind boggling! Our Westside Baby Diaper Drive on Monday, Jan. 19, at the Jefferson Square Safeway brought in a grand total of 10,000 diapers! According to Executive Director Nancy Woodland, this was one of the best diaper drives they've had aside from their huge Stuff the Bus event in July. Thanks to the Diaper Drive, Westside Baby will be able to serve the needs of 400 children. It was a privilege to see this outpouring of generosity in our community.

I would like to thank Safeway Manager Dave Dupuy for supporting the drive, making announcements in the store all day long, and for being so helpful. Thanks to Liberty Bell Printing for providing free services for our effort. Thanks to the volunteers (the big ones and the little ones) who stood in the cold, handed out fliers to shoppers, and carted loads of diapers here and there: Bailey and Greta Guess, Ann, Madeline and William Easton, Ann and Eilish Bury, Kim Schwarzkopf, Kai Moss and Indie Clarke, Connie and Carolyn Keim, Carrie Stern and her two sons, Enrico and Amanda Tucker, Carl Guess, and Becky and Simone Evans. Most of all, thanks to the generous people of West Seattle, who on Martin Luther King Day made a difference by putting a smile on a baby's face.

A diaper can't change the world, but it can change a sad baby into a happy baby, and for families stressed by lack of affordable housing, health care, and low incomes, a happy baby can make a world of difference. So, maybe a diaper can change the world after all.

Katy Lloyd

Westside Baby Volunteer