NICU Care Packages

I am a family photographer, and a mom. I love families, especially babies. I have had close friends and family lose their babies, whether it was stillbirth, miscarriage, or preterm birth. It did not hit me more until after I had my own children and I had a friend lose her first baby, and a client who passed away along with her almost-full-term baby.

These are always sad stories, and my heart always aches, but it was around Christmas time when I thought about how much I wanted to give something to families in these situations. There are families who delivery their children much sooner than expected, and are less than prepared for the new family member, not to mention the weeks or months in the NICU. I figured I could donate some of my unused baby blankets for the hospital to give to these babies in need of something more personal than the regular hospital blanket they can't take home. Then, I watched a video about a woman who organized care packages for these families! I thought, "What a brilliant and easy idea!" So my family and I set a budget and gathered items that were suggested by people who have had long stays in NICUs. We also collected many blanket donations - so many beautiful blankets! 

In December 2015, I donated an armful of receiving blankets for a local hospital to keep and use to add color and warmth to the NICU beds. I also put together 14 gift bags ($10-$15 each, excluding the cost of the blankets, which were donated) for the nurses to give to the families who needed them most. The bags include items such as journals and pens, several snacks, waterbottles, lip balm, warm socks, knitted hats, burp rags, tissues, toothpaste and toothbrushes, gum, chocolate, hard candies, hand sanitizer, snap-on onesies, beautiful baby blankets, etc. - anything I could think of that would help brighten someone's day when they are on constant watch of their sweet baby in the NICU.

I have made several more bags in the last month, with the help of drop-off donations, but I have had friends ask if they could send money donations. I was using another site, and suspected fraud activity coming from it, so here's another try using GoFundMe!

I have about 20 more beautiful blankets I would like accompanied by these care packages. Whatever monetary donations I receive will be used to purchase the items, such as those listed above, to fill these bags. If I receive more money than I need for the current number of blankets I have, I will simply purchase more supplies to create more bags. If I receive much more than expected, I may include extra gifts, like gift cards for gas or food to give to the families who commute each day to see their babies in the NICU. (If you are interested in sending specific items to me, that would be great, too!)

There is no deadline for these funds, as this is something I would love to continue doing, but it would be great to send these blankets out to the hospital within the next month. 

I know the hospital has been excited to give these bags away each week. The nurses tell me how excited they are to get them and give them to the families, who also love receiving them.

I have spent time doing free photography in the NICU, and it can be a place of hope and relief or a place of great sorrow. I want to offer some kind of gift to lift those heavy hearts, even if just a little. 

Please donate here if this is something you believe is a worthy cause, and you want to help these families. And start your own donation collection wherever you are! 

Thank you for helping me reach out to these babies and their families!