Students in Gershia Coggs’ College Success class are giving back to the community by collecting and distributing diapers to Milwaukee Public School parents facing economic hardships.
The Diaper Bank is a service-learning project created by Coggs that helps her students learn the importance of helping others, and working as a team. The idea came to Coggs three years ago while watching a television special focused on parents with young children losing their jobs.
Coggs said parents facing hardships are often forced to make serious changes on their spending habits. Diapers, which can be extremely expensive, are frequently one of the items parents cut back on. She described the decision parents face as, “putting meat on the table, or buying diapers.”
As a result, parents are forced to leave soiled diapers on children longer, leading to rashes, staph infections and urinary tract infections. This is a problem many parents in Milwaukee face every day.
Students in Coggs’ College Success class are helping to counter act this problem by participating in the Diaper Bank. Beginning five semesters ago, the Diaper Bank works primarily with Milwaukee Public Schools and the Black Healthcare Coalition, to provide homeless students and struggling parents with much needed diapers. Students embraced the idea because it is relatable.
“Milwaukee Area Technical College has 3,000 homeless students per semester,” Coggs said. Over the past two semesters the Diaper Bank has raised over $1,200, which has been used to purchase diapers. Last semester they collected over 150 packages of diapers. “The program has truly evolved,” Coggs said, referencing the fact that it began simply as donating toiletries to MPS’s homeless population. Currently the Diaper Bank has only been held at the West Allis and Downtown Milwaukee campuses. Coggs hopes to see the program expand to all MATC campuses in the future. In addition to supplying diapers to struggling parents, Coggs would like to “pay it forward” by providing information to parents about enrolling at MATC. She wants parents to know that they may need diapers now, but they will need education later.
Students who participate in the service learning program gain the necessary skills that will help them throughout life. In addition to learning how to work in a team environment to plan, execute, and improve the program; they also learn the importance of helping others.
Sylvester Walker, a student in Coggs’ College Success class, says his involvement with the Diaper Bank makes him feel he is “doing a great deed for the community.” This is the kind of benefit Coggs wants her students to get from service learning. Coggs said, “One of the best ways to move forward is by learning to help someone other than yourself.”
For more information on diaper banks, visit the National Diaper Bank website at: www.DiaperBankNetwork.org.