UPDATE: St. Cloud Area Diaper Drive Half Way Toward 100K Goal

ST. CLOUD - A grassroots effort to collect 100,000 diapers in the St. Cloud metro area continues. Justin Michael is spearheading "Operation Baby New Year". He says they've collected about 45,000 diapers so far.

There are about 25 local business partners that are drop-off locations.

The number keeps growing. People want to be a part of this all the way up to January 3rd. Which is very exciting, because we also want to support local businesses. We want to let people know who our partners are, and where they can go to drop them off. It's a really cool sense of community when you have local businesses helping local families.

Michael says the Beaver Island Brewing Company is hosting a "Pints For Diapers" event on Wednesday. And, there will be a celebration at the Veranda Lounge on Sunday.

The diapers will be donated to local charities: The Salvation Army, Catholic Charities, Anna Marie's Alliance, Lutheran Social Services, and Place Of Hope.

We're really excited that 'Operation Baby New" year is also sparking a conversation about ways folks can year round help support these local organizations. So we're really excited that we're also creating a conversation about not only the need for diapers and other accessories, but also people's time.