{"id":2121,"date":"2013-04-29T08:41:23","date_gmt":"2013-04-29T12:41:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mayahoodblog.com\/?p=2121"},"modified":"2013-05-13T14:36:37","modified_gmt":"2013-05-13T18:36:37","slug":"paying-it-forward-one-family-at-a-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mayahoodblog.com\/paying-it-forward-one-family-at-a-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Paying it forward; one family at a time"},"content":{"rendered":"

The other day, as I was getting the nursery room ready for my newborn son, I came across some unopened gifts that we received from our loving and generous family and friends.\u00a0 Since he’s\u00a0our second child and of the same gender,\u00a0we didn’t need it all.\u00a0 It took me only a second to know what I had to do with the stuff.\u00a0 Instead of re-gifting or exchanging, I decided that I wanted to give it away to a deserving family.\u00a0 To be honest, this idea was inspired by a fellow blogger who recently blogged about the “ding dong diaper ditch<\/a>“. But also, lately, I realized how lucky and fortunate my husband and I are.\u00a0 It was time to pay it forward, and I finally figured out a good\u00a0way to do it!\"PayItForward\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Of course, I wanted to make sure the stuff went to the right family… a deserving family that truly needs it.\u00a0 So I reached out to the amazing mothers on the Pink & Blue (Toronto) Facebook page to ask if anyone knew of a family in need.\u00a0 What came next completely humbled me.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the messages just came rolling in.\u00a0 Almost everyone knew a family or two in need and some were brave enough to ask help for themselves!\u00a0 I wish I could have helped them all, but I didn’t have enough.\u00a0 I finally decided which family would receive my stuff but I also\u00a0decided to find\u00a0other things\u00a0that would be in better hands with some of the other families.<\/p>\n

In case you’re wondering, the family that I gave my stuff to has an infant child that is very sick and spends most of his days in the hospital.\u00a0 The mother had to quit work in order to be by her child’s side and is also expecting her second child this summer.<\/p>\n

I was also able to help out a young soon-to-be first time mother who was not receiving much, if any, financial support from the baby’s father.\u00a0 I had an extra infant car-seat that I was happy to give her along with a play mat.<\/p>\n

Lastly, I provided newborn clothes, a breast-pump, a diaper bug and a nursing pillow to a nurse that pays it forward on a daily basis.\u00a0 Not just through her job, but she also volunteers as a lactation consultant with teen moms; some are single, some were abundant by their family; none have money. She will distribute my stuff amongst those teens.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, these\u00a0people are only a fraction of the families that are in need of support.\u00a0 I was told of stories where one family lost everything they owned in a house fire, another is an immigrant family with a newborn but they don’t have any support system, let alone financial means to support a family of three, and another family that just had triplets at 27 weeks, and one of them is extremely ill. I also just found out about a family in “crisis” mode, looking for help with FOOD for their 3 kids and themselves.<\/p>\n

This is where you can help out.\u00a0 Whether you have something new or gently used, there are tons of people out there who can use something that you no longer need.\u00a0 I understand the need to\u00a0keep children’s items, but it means so much more to a family in need than it would sitting in your basement collecting dust. If you live in Toronto \/ GTA and have something that you can pass on please get in touch with me.\u00a0 There are so many families that would appreciate anything that you have to give them.<\/p>\n

Alternatively, there are several shelters and organizations in Toronto that can also use baby \/ child items.\u00a0 Here are just a few of them:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.reddoorshelter.ca\/<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.torontocas.ca\/main.php\/?p=334<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.humewoodhouse.com\/about-us\/<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.jessiescentre.org\/donate.php<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.mothercraft.ca\/index.php?q=ei-btc<\/a><\/p>\n

Looking forward to hearing from others who want to pay it forward! And thanks to those\u00a0individuals who have already reached out to me to see how they can help!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The other day, as I was getting the nursery room ready for my newborn son, I came across some unopened gifts that we received from our loving and generous family and friends.\u00a0 Since he’s\u00a0our second child and of the same gender,\u00a0we didn’t need it all.\u00a0 It took me only a second to know what I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2134,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Paying it forward; 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