Service-learning is a dynamic, immersive experience in which Douglass women collaborate with local organizations to create meaningful partnerships between our students and the larger community. Due to COVID-19, Douglass students and programs involved in service-learning innovated to accomplish their goals in 2020.
“We had to adjust our projects,” said Amina Meky DRC’22, an exercise science major and student service-learning leader. “We could still be really helpful, we just had to make everyone safe.”
Before the pandemic, The Central Jersey Diaper Bank, which provides diapers and other childcare supplies to those in need, partnered with Douglass programs to create a service-learning experience. Students were assigned to volunteer at the Diaper Bank in person. In place of volunteering in person, students turned their attention to creating a community-based research project on disparities in access to diapers and other resources. The paper was titled, “It Takes a Village to Change a Diaper: The Social Determinants of Health Related to Diaper Insecurity."
While the paper is an integral step to engaging with the issues of the project, students went even further to loan their time to the community. Douglass students and staff formed a “Diaper Bank Delivery Squad,” a team that would go to the diaper bank once a month, pick up packages composed of diapers, toys, baby wipes and other supplies, and drop off the bundle at residents’ porches.
“Although this was not like volunteering at the bank, it was an amazing way to give people what they needed, contact-free due to COVID-19.” said Meky. “I’m proud to know that through the efforts of the Diaper Bank, the pandemic will not stop people from getting the supplies they need. Many of the families that I visited depend on these monthly bundles and they do not have the time or resources to go and pick up the diapers in New Brunswick.”
Service-learning has a lasting effect on a students’ leadership development and worldview. For Meky, an aspiring occupational therapist, working with the Diaper Bank expanded her knowledge of issues families face across the region.
“This project helped me grow as a person,” said Meky. “As an EOF student, I really wanted to give back to the community. I now have more of an open mind about families in need; diapers were never on my mind before this project. When I think of donating to a bank, I automatically thought of donating food, clothes, or even menstrual products. I tend to forget about one of the most important items in demand for families around the country—diapers.”
To read “It Takes a Village to Change a Diaper: The Social Determinants of Health Related to Diaper Insecurity," please click here.
