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It is one of the best gifts my mother has ever given me. She spent the winter piecing it together and now I hold in my hands a bound and translated copy of the letters her own mother wrote to her from a Salzburg refugee settlement in the late 1940′s. From Hungarian to English, these letters unfold the tale of a family coping in a postwar world and they were sent on their way across the Atlantic sealed with love and hope for an eldest daughter’s success. Woven in among the family news were requests for my mother to send back goods that were otherwise impossible to obtain in the difficult living conditions amid Europe’s rubble.

Many of the requests were ones I would have typically expected, given the history of the times: antibiotics, shoes, sugar and so on. But there was a dry good mentioned that caught me off guard. It was a petition for some elastic to sew into the younger children’s underwear which was wearing out. Certainly this was a mundane essential I would never have thought of.

How many pairs of my own children’s outgrown underwear have I jettisoned that were still bright white with plenty of stretch left in them? I have always done so with a measure of guilt but underwear just isn’t the kind of clothing the local thrift shop will redistribute. This makes the picture in my mind all the more poignant: My grandmother eagerly awaiting a package that would allow her to start sewing and take care of her little ones’ hidden needs.

Most of us think nothing of walking into a discount department store and chucking a package containing several pairs of simple undergarments into our baskets. The price is about as unexciting as the product itself, posing no hardship at the cash register. But now I am thinking that my definition of hardship is a very limited one and that there are many depths to this term that coexist in our own American communities.

I put some cursory research into the subject and have discovered that donations of new underwear and both baby diapers and adult diapers, are welcomed by shelters and charities. It seems I am not the only one who applies the “out of sight, out of mind” phenomenon to this clothing donation category. Charitable organizations always have a need for a supply of these items.

With that potent image of my grandmother’s particular request in mind, I think it would only be appropriate for me to organize a Diaper Dump or Drawer Drop. Privately, it would be in honor of that lifeline between she and her daughter. Publicly, it would raise awareness about an overlooked need in our own community, benefitting both givers and receivers.

Cotton underwear and disposable baby diaper contributions may initially appear to be the main focus of such an event but there are some other important elements to consider. The expense of both disposable baby diapers and adult diapers do not come under the umbrellas of the WIC , Medicare or food stamps programs. This often leaves an already strapped family in a deeper lurch over some basic necessities that cannot be ignored. Adult diapers and adult incontinence products may seem like an unusual component of a charity drive, but it is important to realize that adult diapers are a financial burden for many seniors living on the edge and family caregivers who already have a full plate of financial obligations.

Organizing this type of a donation event can be a lot of work but there is also a lot of community fun and spirit to be experienced. Once there is an established partnership with a charity that will be taking delivery of the results, publicizing the event is the next most important step. Posters and literature announcing the upcoming drive should be up at churches, clinics, schools and storefronts. These places all make excellent collection sites as well. A local radio station should be able to make free announcements as part of their public service and maybe even volunteer a personality to broadcast from the main collection site. Festivity offerings like a small petting zoo or rides in a firetruck can all add up to a big turnout.

If one wanted to kick things up a notch or two, in the words of a popular chef, a cocktail occasion celebrating the cause could be a ticketed event. Admission would also require the drop of donated undies or adult diapers at the door for a fun “Drop Your Drawers” evening. An evening like this has the promise of popular appeal and could easily become an annual event.

My mother, at eighteen and working overtime emptying bedpans in a psychiatric hospital to pay back her boat fare, dutifully and with love tucked rolls of elasticized waistband material in among the medicine, shoes and winter coats that she regularly shipped to Europe. That was a different time with different needs. But undergarments are in many cases, an unseen and urgent need today on our own home front and it is a fact that we can easily do something about.

Related posts:

1. Undies for Charity
2. Drawer Drops and Diaper Drives
3. Memorial Day Weekend is The Time to Deal With Leftover Adult Diapers
4. Living on a Junk Heap