The New Year is about all kinds of new things - including babies. It's traditionally symbolized by an infant taking over for the old man of the previous year.
So, workers at local charity SERVE, Inc. thought what better time to do a diaper drive?
"This is the first one, but we're thinking it could be an annual thing," Outreach Director Brittany Abbott said.
Aside from just providing food, the SERVE Food Pantry tries to keep a little bit of everything on hand. Abbott said the community probably doesn't realize the food pantry is interested in more than just food.
"Simple items that we take for granted like toilet paper and shampoo we try to keep a little bit of a stock for our clients," she said.
And diapers are one of the most frequently requested items of them all.
"It's not something that's easy to go without," Abbott pointed out.
While programs like SNAP and WIC can help provide for families' nutritional needs, they don't pay for things like diapers.
A 2013 study found about 30 percent of mothers report difficulty affording diapers. Women who are unable to buy enough mentioned not being able to change their children's diapers as often as they like. When a child wears a dirty diaper, he or she can develop urinary tract infections and diaper rash.
Study authors also discovered many childcare centers require parents to provide diapers for their children. If parents can't afford it and the child can't go to the care center, the family might lose the government subsidy intended to help with childcare.
"Faith Maternity tries to have diapers for their clients, and maybe the health department keeps diapers on hand, too," Abbott said.
Other than that, there are few diaper sources for impoverished parents.
"So far, we've relied on just whatever walked in the door and put a whiteboard in the lobby of what we have available," Abbott said.
"This year, we're trying to be more proactive, get the community more involved."
All sizes are welcome and needed. Cloth diapers also can be donated. While the pantry doesn't often receive requests for cloth diapers, Abbott said most parents are happy with whatever they can get. And cloth diapers can be a good option for when the cost of disposable ones adds up.
"(Overall), we're doing good," Abbott said. "The pantry is pretty packed full. We're just on full steam ahead. We have lots of new drives planned for the year that we're going to launch that we haven't necessarily done in the past."
Barrels for diaper donations have been placed at the Fulton Walgreens, Koelling Chiropractic in Fulton, Fulton's United Credit Union and the Dollar General locations in Holts Summit, Auxvasse, New Bloomfield and Fulton.