Marshfield Area United Way’s Resource and Development Director Discusses Community Baby Shower

Wednesday, March 25th, 2026 -- 2:00 PM

The Marshfield Area United Way is, once again, holding their Community Baby Shower April 1st through the 17th.

I spoke with Sarah Chy, the Resource and Development Director with the Marshfield Area United Way, and she discussed the event in more detail.

Listen to the interview with Sarah here!

Again, the Community Baby Shower is happening April 1st through the 17th and you can see a list of most needed items, drop off locations, and other information on the Marshfield Area United Way’s website: https://marshfieldareaunitedway.org/community-baby-shower-drive.

(AI assisted transcription via Otter.ai)

Sarah: "A few years back, we kind of brought back this idea of the Community Baby Shower. We had the diaper drive for many years and that kind of hibernated while we were in the pandemic and doing collection drives was not really possible."

"And then we had a Leadership Marshfield team that kind of resurrected it as the community baby shower, understanding that so many local families with young children struggle to just make ends meet, and there really are no assistance programs for diapers and those really basic, essential baby needs."

"So, just a little few statistics for you, one in two families in the United States struggle with diaper needs. There are, like I said, no support systems to help families access diapers."

"So, that's why the Community Baby Shower is so important. Parents actually miss work because they can't afford enough diapers to keep their kids in child care."

"So, understanding that the demographics of our area, 35% of families live check to check and are like one unexpected expense away from not being able to pay all their bills, that's critical for those families with young kids and babies who need the diapers and the essential needs to have their kids in daycare and keep their kids healthy. So ,that's kind of where it comes from and why we do it every year."

Riley: "What are some of the the biggest needs that you need in terms of donations?"

Sarah: "So, what we do every year, actually, as part of this process, is we reach out to the five organizations that we're going to distribute the product to that we collect and we ask them what they need the most."

"So, their top needs this year are diapers, sizes three and up. A lot of times, people pick up newborn sizes and those really small sizes because they're less expensive."

"And everybody loves to think of those two little baby things, but what they really need, the diaper banks need, are like, the size three and up, baby wipes, baby wash and baby shampoo, baby lotions. And this year, because we always say baby or toddler. We have almost everybody asked for toddler toothbrushes and toothpaste."

Riley: "And now you mentioned those local agencies that you'll distribute these items to. Could you touch on what those agencies are?"

Sarah: "Yeah, absolutely. So, the agencies, what we do is we have a bunch of locations where these items can be collected and dropped off. Then we collect it all at our office. And then we kind of split everything evenly between five agencies who have asked to be a part of it."

"So, those agencies are St. Vincent de Paul, the Personal Development Center (PDC Orenda Center), The Hannah Center, Wood County Human Services, and Soup or Socks."

"And the idea is that all of these agencies have direct contact with the families who need these items, so they're best equipped and they're right there to be able to help get these products out into our community."

Riley: "And now, if people decide to make a donation, where should they drop those off?"

Sarah: "So, we don't have our complete list yet, but I would recommend that you just check back on our website here in the coming weeks. We just closed up a different collection drive, so we're in the process of getting those companies in line to be a collection site for our Community Baby Shower, but pretty much usually, like, if you check grocery stores, your local bank, you can certainly drop them off here at our office at Marshfield Area United Way and, yeah, like I said, we'll have a complete list up on our website here shortly."

Riley: "Now if there are some individuals out there that maybe they're not comfortable buying the baby stuff, are they able to donate in other ways, or to help out in other ways?"

Sarah: "So, we would be more than happy to welcome monetary donations, which they could contribute online at our website, safely through marshfieldareaunitedway.org."

"There's a Donate button, and you can just put in the notes to designate it to the Community Baby Shower, or or certainly, you can send it right to our office or drop it off at our office."

"What that does is any funds that come in, they go into, like our account, that then we would purchase any items that we don't receive as in kind contributions."

Riley: "Anything else to add?"

Sarah: "I just want to say this event is always really warmly welcomed in our community. I think people have, of course, and understandably, a real soft spot for our babies."

"And the key here is to keep our babies healthy, to keep our babies happy, and to make sure that all of our young families who are working hard have access to all the items they need to be able to keep their kids healthy and happy and keep them in school and keep themselves in work. So, we really appreciate our community stepping up and helping with that."

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.