Barrington school offers 'Helping Hands' to those in need
Sowams School students and families collect donations for Project Undercover
As part of their annual “Helping Hands” diaper drive, students at Sowams School collected more than 600 diapers, 1,600 baby wipes, and 75 pairs of socks and underwear to benefit Project Undercover, the only nonprofit in Rhode Island dedicated to eliminating diaper need.
It was a group effort, with second-graders giving a presentation during school assemblies to inform their fellow students about Project Undercover’s work, and first-graders tallying and organizing the donations.
Dozens of Sowams families donated to the drive and teachers Mrs. Promades, Mrs. Sanchez and Mrs. Felag oversaw the effort. This is the third consecutive year that Sowams School has organized “Helping Hands” to benefit Project Undercover.
“The support from Sowams students, staff, and families is truly inspiring for a small, all- volunteer organization like ours,” says Project Undercover Vice President Stephanie Oster Wilmarth, whose son, Ryan, is in second grade at the school. “We’re celebrating our 25th anniversary this year; we wouldn’t have been able to achieve that without the generosity of supporters like the Sowams community. We can’t thank everyone enough.”
Project Undercover believes that every child has the right to a clean, dry bottom. The nonprofit provides diapers, socks, underwear and baby wipes to help the approximately 20,000 children under age 7 throughout Rhode Island living in poverty. (There are approximately 45,000 total children living in poverty in RI.)
Project Undercover collects and distributes these items to more than two-dozen community action partnerships and social service agencies throughout the state based on data from the RI Department of Human Services. These partner agencies are then able to provide supplies directly to struggling families in their communities.
