NeighbourLink is ramping up its ‘No Crib for a Bed’ campaign and is distributing 100 white cribs to Calgary organizations to collect supplies and donations for local families.
The large, white cribs are placed in common work areas, schools and lobbies to remind people to bring in gently used or new items for needy Calgarians.
Chris Jost is NeighbourLink’s executive director and says every little bit helps.
“It's all tiny pieces of the puzzle and we don't give out a full package of diapers to a family, they get enough to last a week and it's to tide them over and you can use our services only once a month, so it helps immensely, it's really a great stop gap for families in need, and it's a good safety net for them,” said Jost.
The organization is looking for things like diapers, wipes and formula and larger items like car seats and child beds.
“Right now we’re struggling to meet capacity, I’ll be very blunt right now, we need formula, there’s no formula on our shelves. We had one of our volunteers go out and spend $300 because she didn’t want to say no to families and buy formula herself,” said Jost.
“Anyone who has kids knows, when you’ve got a baby, your world is turned upside down. It’s incredibly stressful. Now add to that the stress of not being able to financially care for your baby and just imagine how tough that is,” said Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi.
The charity answers hundreds of calls for help each week and will help more than 4000 families this holiday season.
For more information on the initiative, click HERE.
(With files from Kevin Fleming)
