Jocelyn Reed, community health worker supervisor for the Utica Shale Academy Community Services program, is pictured in the program’s diaper bank and said a monthlong diaper drive is underway to support Project MKC (Making Kids Count) to help vulnerable children and their families in the Mahoning Valley area. Items may be taken to the lobby of USA’s Williams Collaboration Center at 10 E. Main St. in Salineville on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, call 330-942-4812. (Submitted photo)

SALINEVILLE — Utica Shale Academy’s Community Services program is supporting families by conducting a monthlong diaper drive.

The program, which has partnered with Project MKC (Making Kids Count) of Youngstown, is taking donations of diapers at its location in the Williams Collaboration Center along 10 E. Main St. in Salineville. The event runs from Nov. 1-31 and Community Health Worker (CHW) Supervisor Jocelyn Reed said all types of children’s diapers are needed.

“We are hosting a diaper drive and people can drop off donations in the lobby,” Reed said. “This is the first time we’ve done the drive.”

Reed added that there was no set goal and the contributions will also aid Project MKC, which works with 22 agencies and serves the community’s most vulnerable children and families. She said Community Services became involved through the Mahoning Valley Pathways Hub and began the collaboration in January.

USA Community Services is currently located on the third floor of the Williams Collaboration Building after moving from the Utica Shale Academy Community Center on Church Street this past summer. It assists the school’s estimated 145 pupils in grades 7-12 as well as 15 non-students with a variety of needs from housing to health care.

“CHW’s provide help with employment, housing, health care and any social services such as WIC referrals,” she commented. “We also offer a diaper bank, menstrual supplies and hygiene products. Every month, I pack up supplies for participants to take with them while any student can use the closet.”

The hygiene products include shampoo, conditioner, body wash, toothpaste and deodorant and bags are available for men, women, children and babies. Reed said about 20 bags have been distributed so far while families may also receive one pack of diapers and baby wipes per child each month.

Community Services has five CHW’s on hand and is available weekdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information about services or the diaper drive or to make an appointment, call 330-942-4812.

The Utica Shale Academy, which has operated for the past decade, is a dropout recovery-and-retention school focusing on career-tech education for at-risk students who have obtained more than 1,100 certifications since 2021. For more information about the community school, contact 330-932-9997 or go online to www.uticashaleschool.com.