Volunteers with Machinists Union District Lodge 751 are asking the community to donate diapers and baby wipes toward the union’s drive to help women and families in crisis.

The union’s second annual diaper drive is happening throughout March. Machinists and community members can drop off donations at any IAM 751 union hall in the Puget Sound region, including at Federal Way business Roger Flygare & Associates, 1715 S. 324th Place, Suite 250, or at the Federal Way branch of Umpqua Bank, 1900 S. 320th St.

The diapers and wipes will be distributed to families living in domestic violence shelters, as well as to organizations that help low-income families like Federal Way’s Multi-Service Center.

“We’re trying to make a difference one tushy at a time,” said Rob Curran, chairman of the Machinists Volunteer Program.

Last year, union members contributed more than 15,000 diapers and close to 3,000 baby wipes.

“We’d like to increase those numbers this year,” Curran said. “This is certainly a situation in which more is better.”

Advocates say diapers are critical for families trying to escape domestic abuse or poverty. Infants can soil 12 diapers a day; toddlers up to eight. The cost, between $100 and $120 a month, is not covered under any social safety net programs, and about 1/3 of low-income mothers report regularly running out of clean diapers.