26K Diapers Distributed By Officials, Athletes In Forest Hills

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — Professional soccer players and local elected officials helped distribute tens-of-thousands of diapers to families in Forest Hills last week.

Commonpoint Queens, a social services organization with a food pantry in Forest Hills, received 26,400 diapers from the Allied Foundation and handed them out at four food pantries across the borough on Jan. 20 (Men on the Move donated a truck, which enabled the non-profit to drive the diapers from northwest to northeast Queens).

The non-profit has successfully handed out millions of pounds of food to Queens residents since the start of the pandemic, but the group has faced more challenges getting local families much-needed hygienic basics.

"Currently the government does not recognize diapers as a basic need and no program not SNAP, WIC, or Medicaid allocates dollars specifically for their purchase," Commonpoint Queens CEO Danielle Ellman said in a news statement. "A family could spend upwards of 14% of their income on diapers! This represents critical funds for a struggling family."

With the help of Queensboro FC soccer players, Congress Member Grace Meng, and Council Member Linda Lee, the non-profit handed out the diapers at its Forest Hills, Queens Village, Elmhurst, and Little Neck food pantries.

Commonpoint sees the distribution as part of its ongoing efforts to not only combat food insecurity — a crisis that's been exacerbated by the pandemic, reports show — but also create barrier-free, dignified spaces for community members to get items that they need.

The non-profit runs a similar operation out of its Little Neck food pantry, which it stocks with personal hygiene items — like toothpaste and shampoo — that otherwise aren't covered by SNAP benefits, Patch reported.

The Forest Hills food pantry is located at 108-13 67th Road. It is open from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Monday and from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday (with a one hour closure from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. on both days), from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday.