Over 65 area business and civic leaders, government representatives, and community leaders gathered at the Oronoque Country Club for the Giving Babies a Healthy Start: A Congressional Dialogue breakfast on Monday, December 14th. The breakfast was a culmination of the work of the United Ways of Coastal Fairfield County, Greater New Haven, and Western CT to collect half a million diapers for lower income families, and to raise the awareness level of the challenges facing them in caring for their babies. The breakfast celebrated the success of the Healthy Baby Diaper Drives that took place across 33 towns throughout the months of September, October and November; recognized the many companies, civic organizations, schools, and municipalities that ran diaper drives; and announced the next steps to this important work.

• To see more photos from the event click here.

Speakers of the morning included Michael Crowe, COO, Global Operations for Covidien, who ran a diaper drive at their company; Healthy Baby Diaper Drive Co-Chairs Irene Cornish, Interim Superintendent, Stratford Public Schools and Janice Gruendel, Consultant, Connecticut State Department of Education; Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, Congressman Jim Himes; The Diaper Bank President and Founder Joanne Goldblum, and Merle Berke-Schlessel, Esq., President & CEO of United Way of Coastal Fairfield County.

In laying out the next steps for the Healthy Baby Diaper Drive work, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro and Congressman Jim Himes spoke about the Baby Caucus and what is happening at a federal level to help struggling families.

"“I am so pleased with the good work being done by the United Way and their efforts to address one of the most basic needs of raising children, an adequate supply of diapers. I have worked throughout my career as a legislator to ensure that children get off to a good start in life, with access to health care, appropriate child development and good nutrition”, stated DeLauro. Ensuring these things will make children more likely to be ready for school, and eventually, hopefully, to become productive, contributing adults,” said Congresswoman DeLauro. “Too many families are facing difficult financial choices in the face of our economic crisis this winter, and I believe that we in Congress need to focus in on what we are doing to help America’s infants and toddlers right now.”

As the cost of basic needs rises and unemployment worsens, many more families are facing the difficult choice between providing food and housing or diapers for their babies. Joanne Goldblum, President and Founder of The Diaper Bank in West Haven, a partner in United Way’s Healthy Baby Diaper Drive, spoke about the dire need for diaper.

“An adequate monthly supply of diapers costs $100 a month or more. Infants require up to 12 diapers a day and toddlers up to 8 per day. Lower income families who rely on food stamps or WIC federal funding are not able to buy diapers through these programs”, stated Goldblum. “In families that are struggling to make ends meet, babies often spend the entire day or longer in a single diaper. This can lead to serious health problems from skin diseases to hepatitis, and babies left in dirty diapers may exhibit constant crying, which can trigger abuse. Working families, barely making ends meet, who rely on daycare are left with difficult choices as an adequate daily supply of diapers is a requirement of day care providers”, she continued.

Healthy Baby Diaper Drive Co-Chairs Irene Cornish, and Janice Gruendel recognized the groups that were Community Leaders, Healthy Baby Champions, Innovators and Systems Changers.

“As an educator I understand all too well the importance of a healthy start for each and every child,” said Healthy Baby Advocate, Irene Cornish. “The availability of clean, disposable diapers for young children is about more than just diapers, it is about ensuring that every child is healthy, has the opportunity to succeed, and comes to school prepared to learn and thrive,“ she continued. “It was an honor for me to recognize those who made this effort happen. Their commitment has changed the lives for the better of hundreds of families throughout the region.”

“In all of our work in government, education, business and the advocacy community, a central focus has been on finding ways that we can contribute to the healthy, sound development of young children. We now know so very much about the importance of the first three years in children's early brain and social development, and how it is tied to the early relationships they share with parents and caregivers,” stated Healthy Baby Advocate, Janice Gruendel. “The 2009 United Way Health Baby Diaper Drive is one concrete and effective way to help ensure that all babies in our own communities grow and thrive,” she continued. “I felt proud to be talking about people like Rosa DeLauro and Joanne Goldblum who are not just looking at the delivery of diapers but trying to change the system that puts constraints on families ability to provide for the babies”.

United Way will continue its work in this area to bring sectors together, to educate constituents, and to advocate for change. Merle Berke-Schlessel, Esq., President & CEO, United Way of Coastal Fairfield County issued a challenge to the attendees of the breakfast. While the drive collected a total of 300,000 diapers, United Way is committed to collecting the remaining 200,000 and needs the community’s help in that effort. Attendees were asked to help educate people on the issues, write letters to the editor, convene colleagues and move through their networks to advance the work of this important initiative.