Pictured front to back, left to right: Jenny Rohlin and Cathy Burgess of Chautauqua County Maternal and Infant Health, Grace McKenzie and Debra Felton from Catholic Charities WIC, Jenny Rowe from the Mental Health Association of Chautauqua County, Cynde Johnson, United Way of Southern Chautauqua County marketing and resource development official, Michelle Cobb of the YWCA TEAM Program, Diana Butcher, Felicia Battle and Leslie DeSantis, all of the Salvation Army ANEW Center, Joyce Bess of The Baby Cafe and Darien Holt of the Mental Health Association of Chautauqua County.

The United Way of Southern Chautauqua County annually coordinates community baby item collections to gather essential items that will give the community’s infants a better future.

Local worksites get creative and host their own baby showers as team building activities or just simply a way to get together and have fun while helping the local community. The Chautauqua County Maternal and Infant Health program coordinates a Community-Wide Baby Shower event in the fall that includes more than 30 local organizations providing education and guidance for local moms. There’s educational seminars for breast feeding, car seat safety, domestic violence, drug and alcohol prevention, safe sleep and hygiene.

“A little really goes a long way,” states Cynde Johnson, United Way of Southern Chautauqua County resource development and marketing coordinator. “Collectively our community has come together and done an amazing job to provide the essentials for moms and babies; this will help ensure that families receive the right materials and the right education to go along with them.” Johnson was amazed at the attendance and programming during last year’s Community-Wide Baby Shower Event and was hoping to build a positive response this year. Her hope turned into reality with the over $9,300 worth of diapers, strollers, bathtubs, books and other baby items that were collected.

“One of our agencies shared with me that they had a client with a 6-week old baby who became homeless and she was almost out of diapers. This initiative helped alleviate the stress of her situation, and filled the immediate need as she connects with local human services care and focuses on getting her and her baby back on track to a successful future. This is just one instance of many that we make a collective impact in our community. United We Fight From Cradle, To Career. United We Win.”

Community partners include the Dewittville-Mayville United Methodist Women, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Lane Women’s Health Group, Moonbrook Ladies Golf Club, Bookclub Members and the Give BIGCHQ fundraiser spearheaded by the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation.

The items were recently distributed to local agencies that work one-on-one with mothers to provide education and case management: Salvation Army’s ANEW Center, Chautauqua County Department of Health and Human Services’ Maternal and Infant Health Program, YWCA’s TEAM and Transitions Program, Catholic Charities’ WIC Program, Mental Health Association and The Baby Cafe, all of whom work routinely with expecting and new moms.

For more information about community baby item collections, visit uwayscc.org or call 483-1561.