Babies Helping Babies Results in Sizable Donation

RIO GRANDE – A $5,000 check was presented from The Mustard Seed to the Christ Child Society of Cape May County. Rev. Susan Osborne-Mott, of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Stone Harbor, presented the check from the non-profit corporation Nov. 14 to Phyllis Laswell, crib chair of the Christ Child Society.
Taken in a larger sense, that donation could rightly be described as “babies helping babies.”
That $5,000 gift from the Mustard Seed, Inc., a 501c3 organization, grew from donations.
Donations of infant’s clothing, toddlers’ attire, toys and so much more dropped off by donors to This ‘N’ That Shop, in the rear plaza of Village Shoppes of Rio Grande are bought by customers who know good value, and are willing to look. The store is well organized with displays like those found in high-end retail shops on barrier islands. The Mustard Seed then puts the profits to work back in the community.
Thus, those pretty little dresses that no longer fit, or those rugged overalls that did service in the backyard, and soon became too small, were sold, and so, the clothing and toys of yesterday’s babies help those even younger.
The Christ Child Society was able, through donations such as the one from Mustard Seed, to present, from January through September, 31 cribs, complete with mattress and sheets to young mothers and families in need, Laswell said. She noted the check was the second such donation from Mustard Seed within a year. The first was given last December.
A crib, capable of growing with the child, is given, she said. They can become a youth bed, then, with a larger mattress, into a regular bed when the child grows.
“We feel it is really good value,” said Laswell.
She said the society works with other charities, including Hope Pregnancy Center, and schools to screen those who get the cribs.
Additionally, Christ Child Society has presented 200 layettes this year, each valued at $200, she said.
Those layettes include diapers, wipes, handmade afghan, sweater, hat and booties.
However, the society does not stop with infants. There is also a coat and shoe program that makes a gift card available to a local shoe store to enable child in need to get a new pair of shoes and another for coats.
Knowing there is also unannounced need within the larger community; Laswell said the Christ Child Society donates underwear, socks, and clothing to school nurses. That’s because some children arrive at school without those necessary clothing items. Others may be in need of a change of clothing due to a bathroom accident that some children experience through the day.