By Conrad Dudderar
Senior Staff Writer
Yukon Parks & Recreation employees are encouraging some holiday gift giving through their seventh annual “Diaper Drive.”
The charitable effort started in 2014 to support the Children’s Center Rehabilitation Hospital, 6800 N.W. 39th Expressway in Bethany.
“People can drop off diapers now through Monday, January 4 at all our recreation centers,” Yukon Parks & Recreation Director Jan Scott said. “Huggies and Pampers are preferred.”
Supporters of the YPR Diaper Drive should bring boxes of new diapers to any of these Yukon recreation facilities:
- Yukon Community Center, 2200 S Holly
- Dale Robertson Center, 1200 Lakeshore
- Jackie Cooper Gym, 1024 E Main
- YPR Administration Office, 532 W Main
YPR personnel collected 11,457 diapers and $500 cash during the 2019 drive: Jackie Cooper Gym (4,737), Yukon Community Center (3,201), YPR Administration Office (2,075), and Dale Robertson Center (1,444). Some 13,159 diapers were collected in 2018.
Employees load up a bus, SUV and trucks in early January to deliver their massive diaper gift in-person to the Children’s Center in Bethany.
“We make it a fun group event,” Scott said. “The Children’s Center is always so appreciative. They’re very nice people.”
The Children’s Center in 2019 had their best drive overall with 120,000 diapers collected, Scott reported.
All four YPR facilities have a friendly competition each year to see which can collect the most diapers. The Jackie Cooper Gym has won the last several years but staff at the other centers promise to offer a strong challenge this time.
As a reward, members of the winning YPR facility earn a hand-delivered luncheon from a local restaurant.
“This Diaper Drive brings our department together,” Scott explained. “Although we’re in four different sites, we bond as a group and this brings us all together as one department.”
YPR has 37 employees, 15 of them full-time.
YOUTH FREE THROW CONTEST
Although several YPR holiday events were canceled due to COVID-19, the department will present the annual Youth Free Throw Contest.
“We can socially distance,” Scott said.
Boys and girls age 6-13 will compete starting 1 p.m. Friday, Dec. 28 at the Jackie Cooper Gym, 1024 E Main. Age divisions are 6-7, 8-9, 10-11, and 12-13 years.
Winners in each age group will advance to finals at the Yukon vs. Mustang high school basketball game.
The 2020 Youth Free Throw Contest is a free event. For more information, call Tyler Kilmer at (405) 350-8920 or email tkilmer@yukonok.gov.
Traditional Yukon Christmas events like the Oklahoma City Philharmonic’s Sounds of the Season concert and Mayor’s Christmas Party won’t happen this month due to the virus.
