To buy diapers or pay the utility bill… 

It’s a decision many Lakewood residents are facing.

The Lakewood Community Services Center has provided diapers to families with the help of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, but with a lack of funding, the church is discontinuing the diaper assistance program.

Food stamps don’t pay for them. Neither does WIC, the federally funded program for women, infants and children.

Trish Rooney, the director of LCSC, said that with the high cost of disposable diapers, more than 100 of her clients rely on the extra help.

“They come in for vouchers and we just didn’t have them,” she said. “Disposable diapers are expensive and food stamps don’t pay for them.”

Lakewood Patch is hosting a Diaper Drive to help LCSC get some diapers for Lakewood’s neediest residents.

Drop off diapers — all sizes needed — at the Lakewood Community Services Center at 14230 Madison Avenue.

The organization is open for drop-offs between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

“We can use any and all diapers,” Rooney added.