Members of FBC, Emporia, Provide a Boatload of Diapers for Tyson Workers

It started out as lunch with my friend, Barbara Weaver. She mentioned that the Deacons at First Baptist Church, Emporia, were considering a few ways to support the 1,700 displaced workers from Tyson. At a meeting with the deacons, Barb had suggested collecting diapers instead of food since baby supplies were often overlooked. She also volunteered to call the Salvation Army, which had been very supportive of the Tyson workers.

When Barb spoke with Captain Burris at the Salvation Army, she was told that several churches and organizations had already donated food and other items. When she mentioned diapers, Captain Burris exclaimed, “We never have enough diapers!”

When I heard the diaper idea, I asked, “What about a boatload of diapers? We know a certain fisherman [church member, Tom Forbes] who probably won't be using his canoe for a while...” And that's how a boat came to be sitting in the church library at FBC, Emporia.

Originally, it was thought that 1,500 diapers would be a reasonable goal for the church; however, Pastor Rob Claussen thought the goal should be raised to 3,000.
The diapers came in two-by-two, and three-by-three packages at a time. Barb announced that if anyone wanted to donate money for diapers, she would go to the store to buy them. By the time we recruited some of the younger members of our youth group to help load diapers into the truck, there were 4,000 diapers!
News got out that FBC, Emporia, was collecting a boatload of diapers, and before long the local newspaper had picked up the story, which led a Topeka station to bring a camera crew to tape the diaper delivery. The kids who helped load the diapers loved it and didn't seem to be nervous about being on TV.

When we arrived at the Salvation Army, I went to see where they wanted us to stack up our donations. The woman who directed me to the room told me they receive around two or three requests a week for diapers and that our donation was greatly appreciated.

Who knew that something that started out as a small idea to help a large number of people would end up exceeding expectations? God did. His plan was to show us that every little bit counts; and when we work together, we can do great things for His glory.

— Submitted by Theresa Hinchy