PLYMOUTH -- In February of 2021, St. Kateri Tekakwitha Church in Plymouth had a choice: tutors or diapers.

At the time, then-pastoral associate Ann Cussen suggested that Mary Queen of Martyrs Parish, which St. Kateri is a part of, go into the community and see what residents needed. The church contacted a nearby housing development and found that Plymouth's children were in dire need of two resources: tutors and diapers. Tutoring wasn't possible then due to the pandemic, so the church decided to provide diapers to local families in need. Since 2021, the St. Kateri diaper pantry has distributed over 54,000 diapers to individual families and local groups, such as Friends of the Unborn.

"We love children. We love babies." Father Joe Raeke, pastor of Mary Queen of Martyrs and who was raised one of nine children, said April 22. "There's nothing more precious than a child. And so whatever we can do to help families say yes to life and take care of families that are trying to raise their beautiful baby, we want to help them."

He saw the need for diapers as one burden the church could lift off of parents in the community.

"When we give them diapers, when we give them baby wipes, they feel they're taken care of, and they're not in this alone," he said. "And that's what we as church should be doing, assisting people who are in need."

The pantry is open on the second and fourth Tuesdays of every month. On average, 14 families come to visit the diaper pantry on a single day. The average family that uses the pantry has two or three children.

"The need is incredible, and this is one of the few resources that they have in the area," diaper pantry coordinator Jeanne Barreta told The Pilot.

All of the diapers are donated by parishioners in Plymouth, Carver, and Kingston.

"It's been a team effort, and we feel extremely blessed with the contributions from the parish," Barreta said.

She said that the number of people using the diaper pantry has almost doubled in the last year due to the rising cost of living. SNAP food assistance doesn't cover diapers, which many families struggle to afford. The parish's diapers have also gone to refugee families housed in nearby emergency shelters.

Barreta has noticed that more and more of the women who come to collect diapers aren't mothers but grandmothers. They are responsible for taking care of their grandchildren, either because the parents are working or because they "aren't capable or willing."

"I think people are just overwhelmed these days," Father Raeke said. "There's so many stresses that they have, and the economic is just one of them. And so if we can, we can help these folks."