founder of the big idea called the baby
Bureau our mission is to donate gently
used a new baby clothing for under
servings in our communities we believe
in recycled reviews did love the seats
this idea were planted many years ago
and the aftermath of one of the
country’s worst hurricanes but first
let’s talk about babies who doesn’t love
babies I’ve learned a lot about babies
over the years and I’ve had a few and
one thing I’ve learned all babies come
into this world without a stitch of
clothing on right yeah they all come and
Nichkhun so we all come in on an equal
playing field or do we must moms have
had baby showers and they get a lot of
clothes I got three and as we have all
babies grow so fast I can’t wear all
those clothes I’ve learned not all
babies that come into this world are
lucky and fortunate enough to cope to
coming to to come in with faces with the
basic necessities their mom don’t have
baby showers the babies we serve come
into this world with so much less I
think it’s hard sometimes to see the
suffering that’s right in front of us
because of our bubble our comfort
keeps us from seeing it I said that
because of something my own long said to
me years after I had my second baby she
said Fran I’d rather be the one having
the baby than watching somebody have a
baby because it’s really hard to watch
people suffer and her saying that always
stuck with me it’s not cooking I clicked
I remember where I was when my bubble
popped and my comfort zone was disrupted
it was him Buras Louisiana in 2006 one
year after Hurricane Katrina in the head
our youngest son need is a Bar Mitzvah
project and we found it with the
organization in purist called emergency
communities they were still looking for
volunteers one year later to help out
IRA’s was square katrina made landfall
and it was surrounded by levees and all
the letters grow so they were really hit
and so we talked with the volunteer
coordinator down there and he told us to
bring Tim and sleeping bags and and we
took some donations with us and if you
look real hard I think you can see we
kept our son up to so off we win the
clicker system I got thank you so after
long two-day drive down to Louisiana
would come to the highway that’s going
to take us down to gear us and we had to
get out of the car and remove throat
barrows out of the way so we could get
down the road it looked like this on the
wind is horrible and i remember it was
eerily quiet and all the telephone and
the power lines were there and as we
true we saw stuff stuck in the tops of
trees like furniture clothing junk i
even saw high chair in the top of a tree
that told us that’s how high the water
too sensitive so we get to the wires
again where emergency communities was
located and this is what we saw so we’ve
met with the volunteer coordinator and
you took us on a tour of emergency
communities first up this is the kitchen
they by the way they served over 20,000
people every day in this area so it was
no small feat they fed people two times
day they had a medical tent free Wi-Fi
and it’s anoop free phone calls in
internet those are computers in there
for my lifetime free washers and dryers
you got to be able to wash your clothes
right and the play area because yours
had a lot of young talents and a library
this stopped me in my tracks I thought
who thinks of thing I library together
in August devastation that library had
stuck with me and we were signed to the
distribution center next door and that’s
where donations were collected and
sorted and given out to the residence
and it was a real mash-up of electronic
equipment and furniture and housewares
and there was a lovely family that took
it upon themselves to drive down from
Canada Iran semi-truck trailer load full
of donations for the people of Eros and
I noticed with every box we opened there
was like a fabric sheet like for dryer
like a balance sheet in every box and it
made the donations fresh smelling good
and I thought oh my god somebody cared
about the dignity of how they’ve donated
that always stuck with me oh by the way
it was to beat the Christmas there what
it was the week of Christmas Oh Quebec
sorry my husband
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by the way was the week of Christmas
toys thank you toys for in hot demand
but the sober baby items like diapers
baby formula and baby food and we ran
out on the third day of course I
couldn’t sleep so up again 45 minutes to
the next biggest city and we bought
every baby either they had in the dollar
store brought it back and also I have
met a mom at the distribution center her
and her young poor kids I know but
walking trauma looks like now because
she walked up to me and she just started
talking to me like she and me and she
said my kids made me drive back to our
house which by the way was no longer
there dry back to our house every day
for three months to look for our dog
because she could just had puppies and
we never found her that mom she still
sticks with me I left there knowing i
wanted to i left there no I wanted to
work with those in need somehow someway
so fast forward a few years I returned
to school with a vengeance I realized
have to talking to that nail mom that I
needed to learn how that help people
from a difference here I could help that
one mom but I want to learn how to help
a lot of other moms and families so by
chance I met a woman who inspired me to
help me help our babies in our own
communities because she was doing the
same thing in her community and she
mailed me a package it was already and
when I saw those shoes I was hooked
those shoes gave birth to the big
d addressing our community babies and
those shoes they also they motored me
motivated me to put everything they’ve
been stuck with me and to put it into
motion so I would like to work I put the
word out on the street I was looking for
general use a new baby clothing and I
sent out melon list to churches and
preschools of what our needs were and
then closed or flying in the door and it
took over our spare bedroom our dining
room and our living room that was our
living room I connected with the social
worker at the Health Department and she
in turn connected me with other social
service providers that work with other
moms and babies and I did some research
and I found out that at our local
hospital there’s five thousand babies
for a year and 1200 of those babies are
born at or below the poverty level at
another local hospital there’s 2,400
babies four and four hundred of those
babies are born at or below the poverty
level just amazing so we now service
three hospitals and ten plus other
organizations in the area and we
consider the baby Bureau as the baby
shower baby showers are all never had
and we consider our bundles as a gift
more than charity so what’s in a bundle
if it’ll click yeah there’s third and
seasonally
three outfits with onesie sleepers hats
fits sucks and shoes but I’ve got to
come back to the sheaves ring she is
rule I’m going to tell you why after we
delivered our first bundles at a local
hospital the social worker will be over
to the side and she said Fran I have to
tell you as a social worker newborns do
not need shoes it’s the last thing this
baby babies need but our moms love them
they’re flipping out over shoes bro
status simple she said so no matter how
big or little we are we all need sheets
and clothes we also could have booked in
baby’s first board book because as we
save the baby guerra it’s never too
early to wreak to your baby that
libraries stuck with me and we have the
most wonderful filters and knitters that
donate to us on a regular basis in fact
they’re in young work their signature
items in our bundles and their heirlooms
for these babies and we also have had
families that have adopted us as a
family charity and schools and churches
have adopted discs that run your
clothing drives for us some fun facts
our volunteers put in over 5,000 hours
of their own time and I’m going to guess
we probably wash there were 5,000 loads
of baby clothes because we wash
everything before we donated and we’ve
gone from donating over five to ten
bills a month to over 40 a month and we
serve to communities and the demand is
ground serve two counties lot of
communities so this is the big fun part
we finally found space to move into
which
my husband the happiest man on earth day
I can come with that muse so here’s
where we do smoke work so i got the
clicker so as the baking carol has grown
so has our impact on community we now
serve dual purposes we not only dress
the babies but we provide a platform for
groups to come and our service hours and
do service projects and i’m proud to say
we provide vocational training for local
group of young adults with developmental
disabilities and we’ve had work study
students from this very university for
three years in a row yeah you’re Katie
up in their opinion you rock and what
bet sorry these ladies have been coming
to the baby Thoreau for four years every
week to dress the babies they are the
heart we got the baby in Europe how many
people can say that right for years Wow
I’m always astonished and amazed and
what community can do when it comes
together for a greater good especially
so as I look back at my journey my path
i’ve seen the things that stuck with me
what my mom said FAFSA the micro
community in buras that had
I heard the dignity of how to donate
that bounced sheet at the running out of
baby items at the distribution center
and that traumatized mom they still
stick with me think they were my
motivators things I could not see so I’m
so happy to say we addressed over 1,800
babies and Counting so think about what
sticks with you think about what touches
your heart everybody has the ability to
impact Society in a positive way take
what sticks with you put it into motion
see what happens you never know it could
be uring idea thank you
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