Giving and receiving gifts creates a moment of connection.
This moment is only amplified when it is unexpected or from someone you don’t know personally. The essentials that we rehome and gift from St Kilda Mums, Geelong Mums and Eureka Mums exist because of you, our wonderful supporters.
Families who need a bit of extra support are often linked to multiple professionals or agencies, and when this important support is complemented with a gift for their children, it’s a catalyst for connection. We are incredibly proud to support maternal child health nurses, social workers and practitioners’ professional impact so that vulnerable Victorian children can thrive.
I recently received a gorgeous long letter and I wanted to share some amazing excerpts with you. *identifying information has been edited for privacy purposes*
‘Pam’ has retired and been volunteering at a regional Victorian hospital for a number of years. In recent months, the social work team has requested items from us for new families and children in their care. Pam takes great delight and enjoyment delivering these essentials to the babies and children.
“I just felt I needed to write to you and say that volunteering with our local social worker on this particular project is the best thing I’ve done in my life and I am so grateful to her and your organisation for allowing me to have the delightful task of making so many families very happy and relieving them of a lot of stress and worry.
“We cover a very large area with a number of our families living in smaller towns and on farms. Some of them are quite isolated in more ways than one.
“It’s a real surprise when we have produced your beautifully presented clothes, bassinet sets etc. They had thought we were going to produce maybe a couple of little outfits for their new baby and it was wonderful to see their faces when they saw the parcels.
“A first-time Dad was struggling with providing some of the basic items and was having ‘heart palpitations’ thinking about buying the larger items. We were able to gift him and his wife a beautiful pram and he was quite overcome when he saw it.
“Another mum came in to see us with her new baby and her other three children. We were able to give her clothes for them all and her 5 year old daughter was so happy with a pair of runners that she sat down and put them on straight away with a big smile on her face.”
The connection created by giving and receiving is the fuel that drives us to ensure we fulfill our vision of supporting every child in Victoria that needs us by 2030.
From us all at St Kilda, Geelong and Eureka Mums, thank you so much for your incredible support.
Warm regards,
Tamara Maddrell
Senior Outbound Operations & Networks Manager