Diaper pantry at Elizabeth church helps out area parents

The service is provided by Anglican Church of the Transfiguration in Elizabeth.

An Elizabeth Borough church is helping the community by hosting a diaper drive every month.

Starting in July 2018 as the Diaper Pantry of Transfiguration in Elizabeth, the name has since changed to Mon Valley Diaper Pantry. It is located at Anglican Church of the Transfiguration at 206 Third Ave.

Elizabeth Township residents Pastor Karl Petterson, who has been a pastor in the Anglican Church since 2011, and his wife of 50 years, Sharon, run the drive. It takes place from 10 a.m. to noon the third Saturday of every month.

“We were originally in Clairton for about three years, we turned our building over to the Episcopal church, we rented a space in a Methodist church for a while, and this building became available for us,” Karl said. “We redid the whole building because this was the police station, and we have been here approximately 10 years.”

Sharon said they were inspired to start the diaper drive after visiting churches in the Anglican diocese of Canonsburg.

“We thought, ‘Yeah this is doable,’” Sharon said. “So we just started, and we wanted to go small, but because the need is so great, diapers are ridiculously expensive, and we just went all the way with it. They’re so thankful. It’s just amazing, and it’s just one bag of diapers, and they are so thankful for that.”

Since it began, the diaper pantry has served approximately 130 families and about 200 children. There are currently 51 families and 89 children signed up, with about 39 families coming monthly. They have help from 35 congregation members and eight volunteers.

Each recipient takes home 50 diapers and a box of wipes for each child.

The pantry receives donations from parishioners and community members. Some families bring in toys and diapers they can no longer use, and monetary donations are always welcome as they spend about $1,000 a month to purchase supplies.

The Rotary Club of Elizabeth sends a monthly monetary donation and has also provided Life-Vacs and first-aid kits to distribute to families.

Crossroads Community Church in Jefferson Hills sets out collection boxes for diaper donations, along with Central Coffee Shop in Elizabeth Township.

“When we moved to the borough, our goal was to minister to the people in the borough,” Sharon said. “That is what we wanted to do to serve them. We just started with the borough, and because we have a church in Jefferson Hills that donates, we are no longer just Elizabeth Borough, and we called ourselves the Mon Valley Diaper Pantry at that point.”

They have since served people from all over the Valley, including Elizabeth Borough and Elizabeth Township, McKeesport, Clairton, Charleroi and more. Those coming need to have WIC or SNAP identification, and a birth certificate for each child.

Every distribution day they set out various household goods donated by parishioners as well. Each family can take two items, and kids can pick an item from a treasure chest.

According to Sharon, relationships have been developed with some of the moms that come into the church, and they have had the opportunity to pray with them and help them with whatever they need, not just diapers. They are looking into putting together bags for cancer patients in the future.

“We give the gals special gifts — like on Thanksgiving, we give them Aldi’s gift cards,” Karl said. “Christmas time we give them something. We were doing clothing for awhile, but we did not have room. So we do more than just diapers.”

It also gave them an opportunity to meet with the women in the area, according to Karl. Sharon said they are not pressuring anyone to be part of the church if they don’t feel comfortable.

It was “the spirit of service,” Sharon added, that inspired her and others to move forward with the drive. Karl said it motivates them and the congregation to be servants for the community, which he said is what the church is for.

“From the girls that we’ve seen, there’s a need, and we just wanted to help,” Karl said. “Ministry is being servants, and that’s what they wanted to be. We wanted to be servants for the community, and we felt that (the diaper drive) was a good way to do that. We tried other things, but this is the thing that we settled on, and it works.”

More on the monthly diaper drives can be found at the church’s Facebook page or by contacting diaperpantryoftransfiguration@gmail.com. Church services take place at 9:30 a.m. Sundays.