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Live blog: WCIA 3 Diaper Drive 2025
Live blog: WCIA 3 Diaper Drive 2025

Yahoo

time24-06-2025

  • General
  • Yahoo

Live blog: WCIA 3 Diaper Drive 2025

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — WCIA 3's annual Diaper Drive for Nexstar's Founder's Day of Caring took place June 20. Throughout the day from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., we collected new / unopened packs of diapers for newborns and toddlers, as well as monetary donations in our backlot. We hoped to collect enough diapers and money to be able to care for Champaign County children for six months. After 13 hours, we collected enough to last five-and-a-half months. The diaper drive may be over, but you can still donate year-round online by clicking here. Updates from the drive, including donation totals, who reigns on the diaper race leaderboard, and more, are listed below. 7 p.m. After 13 hours, the WCIA diaper drive for Nexstar Founder's Day wraps up with the final number. United Way CEO Sue Grey reveals how long donations from the diaper drive will be able to care for Champaign County children. In the diaper changing race, there is a new champion, with Jennifer Newell having the fastest time of 17.46 seconds. A table of participants and their times are listed below. Time (in seconds) Participant 17:46 Jennifer Newell 17:83 Stephanie Seay 18:65 Brandon Merano 21:83 Sarah Sandquist 25:00 Kevin Hildebrand 26:20 Josh Jessup 28:43 Kevin Lighty 29:10 Katie Madigan 29:20 Luke Sullivan 30:06 Seth Bohnhoff 31:39 Laur Bleill 31:63 Cindy Crawford 32:50 Senator Paul Faraci 32:79 Sue Grey 32:87 Jennifer Roscoe 34:00 Jess Firmand 34:03 Dr. Lymarie Rosado 34:40 Alyssa Whitacre 34:90 Michelle Gonzales 35:32 Amanda Brennan 37:66 Julie Cebulski 38:13 Martin O'Donnell 38:26 Mitchell Rife 38:33 Andy Quarnstrom 39:20 Julie Pryde 39:83 Laura Gerhold 45:16 Brad Zimmerman 48:23 Addy Johnson 51:40 Heidi Gulbrandson 6:55 p.m. There's one more diaper changing race between WCIA reporters before the diaper drive wraps up. Brandon Merano, with a station-leading 18 seconds, squares off with new dad Seth Bohnhoff. 6:40 p.m. Becca Guyette with United Way of Champaign County speaks on what happens to diapers after they are donated. 6:16 p.m. Kevin Hildebrand with CRS Hospitality was the winner of the diaper changing race last year, and he's back to defend his title. 6:10 p.m. Jennifer Roscoe speaks with Dr. Lymarie Rosado, a pediatric intensive care physician at Carle, on how important clean diapers are for a baby, not just for hygiene but for their development. 5:25 p.m. It's usually not a good thing to see an ambulance, but a crew from AMT Ambulance stopped by the WCIA backlot for a good reason. They donated 4,500 diapers, one of the biggest donations of the 2025 diaper drive and a close second to the Champaign Park District, which donated just over 5,000 diapers. 5:15 p.m. Another rematch in the WCIA diaper changing race, this time it's Jennifer and Kevin. Kevin won this matchup last year but lost to Seth just minutes earlier. He's looking to bounce back. 5:00 p.m The WCIA Weather team has two dads on the team — Kevin and Seth. They went head-to-head in the diaper changing race to defend their wins — Kevin from last year and Seth from just minutes earlier. 4:51 p.m. It's a rematch one year in the making. Seth and Amanda go head-to-head again in a race to change a doll's diaper the fastest. But unlike last year, Seth now has experience with a real baby. He's looking for redemption. 4:30 p.m. Amanda Brennan interviews Bev Baker, Chief Impact Officer of United Way of Champaign County, on the history of diaper banks in Champaign County, how United Way became involved and how they get diapers into the community. 4:00 p.m. Behind the scenes, WCIA employees are busy handling diapers and getting them ready for distribution to the community. Here's a step-by-step process of how that happens: 12:25 p.m. Amanda, Jacob and Mitch face off during WCIA's Diaper Drive with United Way of Champaign County. This is round three for Mitch, who hasn't had any luck all morning with changing a diaper the fastest. 12:10 p.m. Organizations across Champaign-Urbana have been collecting diapers ahead of WCIA's diaper drive all week. Amanda Brennan visited two banks and a law firm that participated, picked up the diapers they collected and spoke with staff on why they took part. 12:03 p.m. Sue Gray, the President and CEO of United Way Champaign County, provides an update on how many diapers have been donated during WCIA's diaper drive for Nexstar Founder's Day of Caring. 11:45 a.m. 10 a.m. Jacob Dickey and Mitchell Rife wrap up The Morning Show with an update on how many diapers have been donated so far and with their plans on how to beat Taylor Mitchell in the diaper changing race. 9:50 a.m. It's redemption time for Mitchell Rife. He lost to Taylor Mitchell earlier in The Morning Show, so he's getting another chance to beat his co-anchor in the diaper changing race. 9:17 a.m. WCIA's Amanda Brennan speaks with Dr. Awad Alyami, a pediatrician at OSF, on how important diapers are for babies' health and why they must be clean. 'Diapers take care of the skin, which is the first defense mechanism of the body from germs and infections,' Alyami said. 'Urine and stool is very irritant to the skin, so if (the diaper) isn't changed quickly enough, we can have diaper rash…if that's not addressed quickly enough, we might run the risk of superimposed yeast infection or bacterial infection.' 'A diaper change doesn't cost much, but to treat infections after that can be very costly,' Alyami added. He added that he often sees families without diaper bags when they bring their babies for appointments. In that event, OSF does connect families with community resources to help them. 9:13 a.m. Already a few hours into the Diaper Drive event, Taylor Mitchell and Mitchell Rife checked in to see how donations are coming in and who reigns on the diaper race leaderboard so far. 9:01 a.m. Mitchell Rife took on Beverley Baker of United Way for another diaper changing race. After Baker celebrated a victory, she discussed the impact of donations to the diaper drive. 'We reached enough to cover the diaper bank for four months last year. We would love to be able to reach six, if at all possible. We've seen the need increase. We're getting the demand from our partners and we know that families in our community are stretching their dollars … We want to keep the kids in our community healthy, we want families to be able to go to work and school, kids to be able to go to childcare where they're safe and well cared for, and we need the diapers to accomplish all of those things,' Baker said. 7:46 a.m. Laura Gerhold from the Family Room talks about how donations are important for their children who go into the foster care system. 'Every year there are 100s of children who enter into the foster care system here in Champaign County,' Gerhold said. 'Those children are in need just like your own children at home, and so making sure that they have access to diapers so that they're clean and sanitary and their families can support them in other ways financially. Sometimes when children enter into a new home, there may be limited resources. This is one burden that we can take off of those families because everyone knows the cost of taking care of a kid and any little bit of support can help.' Gerhold added that families are so grateful and thankful when they receive the donations. 7:26 a.m. The Morning Show team went head-to-head in a diaper changing race. 7:15 a.m. Cindy Crawford of the Community Service Center in Rantoul said having this event in 'critical' to help fill a community need. 'Right now with our economy, it's just so challenging for people to be able to afford diapers, and they're very expensive,' Crawford said. 'Wipes as well. So just being able to provide that to people is huge.' Crawford said at the Community Service Center, they provide diapers for around 100-300 children a month at their location alone. 'This is a multiplier effect. If they're able to get help with diapers, they're able to get out and buy other things that their families need,' Crawford added. 6:57 a.m. WCIA's Mitchell Rife faces off with Martin O'Donnell of Busey Bank in one of the first diaper changing races of the day. Ultimately, O'Donnell walked away with a win at a time of 38.13 seconds. That time puts him in third place, behind Stephanie Seay (17.83) and Sarah Sandquist (21.83). 6:37 a.m. Mitchell Rife caught up with Chief Development Officer of United Way Becca Guyette on why diaper donations are so helpful. Guyette said that between 13- 14,000 diapers are distributed a month from United Way to the community through their partner agencies. Last year, WCIA collected around 15,000 diapers in just one day for the drive, emphasizing how far the donation drive goes to help families in need. 6:15 a.m. WCIA's Taylor Mitchell and Mitchell Rife preview more of what's to come throughout the event, including the anticipated diaper races. Rife said he's vying for that number one spot this year. 6 a.m. As the Diaper Drive kicked off, our own Mitchell Rife talked with United Way's Carolyn Butterfield about the importance of the drive. Butterfield said diapers are about $80-100 per month, per child. 'So when you're on a limited budget, that's a lot of money…' Butterfield said. 'Folks are forced to make it stretch until their next paycheck. And those are tough choices. Parents don't want to do that. But we're here to help kind of bridge that gap so that folks can get to that next paycheck, not have to ration diapers, kids are healthier, parents don't have to miss work or school because they can't bring enough diapers to daycare. So that's real important; that affects the household bottom line.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Live updates: Operation Honor Guard 2025
Live updates: Operation Honor Guard 2025

Yahoo

time14-05-2025

  • General
  • Yahoo

Live updates: Operation Honor Guard 2025

UPDATE at 6:40 a.m. CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — WCIA is almost an hour into the start of the annual Operation Honor Guard's Day of Giving event. Founder Rich Darby talks about the friendly faces you will see when you bring a donation to our backlot in Champaign and the other locations. When donations come in, all of the collection sites are manned by honor guards who will be among those benefiting from the community's contributions. Champaign American Legion Post 24 helps with the event every year, starting bright and early at 6 a.m. in WCIA 3's backlot. UPDATE at 6:20 a.m. CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — A couple of donations have already started rolling in at our backlot in Champaign. WCIA 3's Taylor Mitchell caught up with Founder Rich Darby to talk about the importance of Operation Honor Guard and how the community can contribute. CENTRAL ILLINOIS (WCIA) — Today marks WCIA 3's 12th year participating in Operation Honor Guard's Day of Giving — an event dedicated to supporting the veterans who continue to serve our country. Throughout the day, we will be providing updates on those being recognized and more. We will be collecting donations from the community at several locations in Central Illinois from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. To learn more or donate online, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

‘Changed me for the better'; Urbana mayor retires after 8 years in office
‘Changed me for the better'; Urbana mayor retires after 8 years in office

Yahoo

time02-04-2025

  • Politics
  • Yahoo

‘Changed me for the better'; Urbana mayor retires after 8 years in office

URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin stepped foot in the city more than 50 years ago. 16 of those years have been spent in city government. 'Being mayor was not on my to-do list, it didn't even occur to me to do that,' Marlin said. WATCH: WCIA 3's 2025 Remarkable Women Celebration The University of Illinois graduate came to Urbana for four years, but has stuck around long enough to find her husband, raise a family and explore professional endeavors. 'A lot of people will say 'Well, I lived here and there, but when I moved to Urbana, it felt like home,'' Marlin said. After tenures working at Parkland College and the U of I, her love for volunteer work landed her at city council. 'We have strong environmental ethics, we value people, we welcome newcomers, we welcome immigrants and we value our parks and our education system,' she said. 'That's the kind of thing that kept me here and keeps me going.' She was first elected mayor in 2017, and has been the so-called 'CEO of the city' ever since. 'When you hear that title in front of your name it's a wonderful feeling and it also hits you that you have a huge responsibility,' Marlin said. She's felt the weight of that responsibility through several city developments, and through the COVID-19 years. 'I think they're extremely important': Champaign Co. Clerk breaks down voter turnout in Consolidated Election 'Leading the city with our staff, our community partners during 2020 and 2021 will always remain one of our greatest accomplishments,' she said. 'When everything was shut down, we had to come to work and be there for our community.' Five years from then, she's celebrating progress in equity, accessibility and business development. '[I've] gotten a lot less sleep than I used to, but it's changed me for the better, it's given me hope, it assured me that yes people can make a difference in their community,' Marlin said. She's looking forward to watching her story repeat itself as more find themselves loving the city the way she does. 'I hope [Urbana] continues to thrive and grow, that students continue to come to the U of I and look around and say, 'This feels like home,'' she said. Marlin said she's looking forward to traveling and spending time with family in retirement. She said she will transition the incoming mayor for a few weeks before they're ready to take her spot in the city building. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

WX BLOG: Freezing Rain impacts Central Illinois
WX BLOG: Freezing Rain impacts Central Illinois

Yahoo

time05-02-2025

  • Climate
  • Yahoo

WX BLOG: Freezing Rain impacts Central Illinois

Winter Weather Center: Live Traffic Updates Weather Map Room: Live Current Conditions Snow Bear Closings and Delays GCMS Schools posted on Facebook the following message. 'Good morning,Due to the likelihood of inclement weather, the HOIC Music Festival Concert that was scheduled for this evening (2/5/25) has been cancelled. For those that purchased tickets, the conference is working on refunding your you,Mr. Bielfeldt School districts are beginning to dismiss school early west of Springfield, including in Jacksonville and Virginia. Watch the list of weather-related early dismissals as they come in here. LIST: School Closings and Delays We know of several area schools that already have pre-planned school dismissals today for teacher in-service and work days. Those schools that had it on the calendar and are already planning on dismissing early are not going to be included in our list. Check with your local district calendar if you have questions. First signs of a glaze of ice in NW Springfield this morning. Also have a report of a coating of ice in Chatham along I-55. Radar shows freezing drizzle and rain moving into the area. The next few hours, impacts will start to increase. Here's a forecast update from WCIA 3 News at 9a with Meteorologist Jacob Dickey IMPACTS BY TIMING: Here's a look at how impacts are anticipated across cities in our area. If your city isn't listed, find the cities nearest you and that's a similar forecast for you. Highest impacts occur where freezing rain lasts the longest north of I-74. Going to watch Decatur/Champaign/Danville for potentially higher impacts into the afternoon commute, pending where temperatures sit with that magic 32° number we need to get to end ice. Radar may not show the precipitation on a day like today as it starts because often drizzle is shallow and forms/falls below the radar beam! We know there is freezing drizzle from your reports in the morning as well as looking at some of our cameras in the area. Ice now showing up on some of the cameras from Jacksonville into Western Illinois. Slippery conditions are not far away. Remember, you can see the latest road conditions on the WCIA 3 Winter Weather Center and the WCIA 3 News and Weather Apps. You can find the latest forecast details updated on the WCIA 3 Weather Forecast on the Weather Now Article. Don't forget some of the safety things related to ice on roads. Be extra cautious on bridges, but even surface roads that are untreated can ice up quickly. Avoid using your brakes and turning if you can. You want to try and coast across the ice if you hit a slippery patch. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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