DUNMORE -- Moms and dads know that diapers are one of the most expensive things you have to buy for your baby.
Members of a church in Lackawanna County wanted to buy diapers for needy families. The amount they came up with surprised even themselves.
The members from Parker Hill Community Church came with a truck that you could consider a stork on steroids. They delivered more than 100,000 diapers to the baby pantry run by St. Joseph's Center at its facility in Dunmore.
An assembly line made up of church members from Parker Hill loaded the boxes of diapers into the place.
But, wait, there's more.
"Through an interesting set of circumstances, Proctor & Gamble heard about what we were doing and they have donated just as many, in fact, a little bit more than what we've collected. A 53-foot tractor trailer load of diapers," said Mark Stuenzi, pastor for Parker Hill.
Parker Hill collected so many that the diapers will be distributed to other charities, too. A modest supply will stay at the baby pantry.
The grand total was 100,152 individual diapers that St. Joseph`s Center estimates might last about a year.
"100,000 diapers. It was hard to even imagine how much space it would take up. We know that families often fall short, I think the statistics say as many as five a week if you're struggling economically. You magnify that out by the number of people that we serve so we're hopeful these diapers are going to last us about a year," said St. Joseph's Center Director Sister Mary Alice Jacquinot.
No one knows how expensive diapers are better than Gina Hicks of Carbondale.
" Very expensive, I mean, we go through a pack within three or four days," she said.
Hicks, a mom of four, relies on St. Joseph's baby pantry. She represents close to 400 moms who visit the pantry each month.
"My oldest is six and I've come here since he was younger. They've been very helpful and great," Hicks added.