Over 81,000 Diapers Collected in Central Minnesota Drive

ST. CLOUD - Over 81,000 diapers were collected during "Operation Baby New Year". The annual diaper drive wrapped up with a celebration Monday at the Pioneer Place Theater in downtown St. Cloud.

Organizer Justin Michael says now the work begins to get those diapers to the organizations that need them.

The diapers are getting distributed to St. John's Episcopal Church, Tri-County Homeless Alliance, Central Minnesota Sexual Assault Center, and Anna Marie's Alliance. And we also have a storage space that we're going to be using to coordinate with organizations that are a little bit further out, places like Princeton, Buffalo, and Big Lake.

Michael says he now wants to make the effort year-round by creating a diaper bank.

Before the end of January, we're going to come together and have a team meeting about getting our articles of incorporation together and forming a board and creating a 5013c nonprofit.  We actually got contacted by the national diaper bank to help us get off the ground.

Meanwhile, Michael says you can always help the local charities like Anna Marie's Alliance and others by contacting them directly.

In the three years of Operation Baby New Year over 432,000 diapers have been collected.