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By Pat Louise

Baby Store Opens And It’s All Free


As she noticed how quickly her son went through diapers, Lyndsey Spooner thought of similar families doing the same.


She wondered about those families unable to afford diapers, which cost upwards of $10 a pack depending on the size. Spooner took her concerns to her church, the Waterville United Methodist Church.


Pastor Bryant Clark and his wife, Kristina, loved the idea of doing a mission to help those young families. Spooner, Kristina Clark and Betty Barth began reaching out to the community about a year ago.


They found five families.


“We thought there would be more,’’ Clark said, “but we started with those five and gave them all a free month’s supply.’’


Some of that came from a Diaper Dump collection the church did at last year’s Cruise In To Waterville. They filled the back of a pickup truck with diapers, ending up with more diapers than users.


Slowly, word spread. The church also partnered with the Waterville Food Pantry, Waterville Public Library and Waterville Central School in the last year during giveaways to help families during the pandemic.


Barth said the first giveaway last October brought the families in the mission up to 16. “We had enough left over we thought, well, we can do it again next month.’’


By this past winter, lines formed before the diaper giveaway would open. People also added to what families could have by donating baby clothes, toys and accessories such as strollers and walkers.


“We had taken up every available space at the church for storing things,’’ Clark said. “And the need kept growing.’’


At first that was Ok, since the church had not returned to in-person services. But as spring progressed and services…



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