It's That Time Again!

It's a new year and it's time to start collecting again. This is the 3rd Preemie CLothing Drive and we need YOUR help! I would have like have got this started sooner this year but with my son being in the hospital I have been super busy and not able to sit down yet to blog about it. A few new things, we now have a Facebook page. So if you are on Facebook go find us there under Preemie Clothing Drive. I will update that page much more often than this blog. Also if you haven't noticed we have a new domain name. It's now preemieclothingdrive.com instead of preemieonesiedrive.com.

Donations will be delivered to the hospital on 03/09/11. Anything recieved after then will be donated at Chirstmas 2011.

So instead of posting a link for you to read a post that was written in 2008 I'm just going to copy and paste for you. This will give you a brief run down on the drive and the items needed.

Saturday, December 27, 2008
What's This About And How Does It Work?

This is the first annual preemie onesie drive being held by me (Rachel) and Ryan. We are collecting preemie onesies/clothing to donate to the babies that are staying in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit). Ryan and I had our first daughter Carly in the NICU for 4 months before passing away from a heart defect. I know as well as other preemie parents of children in the NICU know that it's hard for your child to be there. It's hard in many ways. It's hard as far as gas is concerned because of the many daily trips to the hospital. A lot of times one of the parents (usually the moms) quit working to be at the hospital with their child as much as possible. This makes funds tight. Paying bills can become a struggle. And it makes it hard to buy your new little one the cute outfits that moms want to see their child in. So this is why I'm having this preemie onesie drive. To help parents enjoy seeing their little boy or girl dressed in a cute outfit. Sometimes it's all a parent can do for their child as they lay there in the hospital. Dressing your child when you can't do anything else helps you to bond and actually feel like a parent. Carly got a cute outfit while she was in the NICU as a anonymous donation. It made me feel completely blessed. It was nice for someone to do this for her. Being in the NICU is a very stressful time. Some are only there for days while others are there for months and even over a year. Simple acts of kindness fills peoples hearts with happiness. I'm doing this donation in memory of Carly who passed away on 3/9/08. I will deliver the donated onesies on 3/9/09. And plan to do this as an annual thing.

So please lets come together and help me to gather the needed onesies to donate to the NICU that my sweet Carly was at (Levine Children's Hospital). You can look in the upper left side of this blog for a mailing address. Also, if you would rather donate money you can. The funds received will go toward the purchase of preemie onesies/clothing. The NICU houses nearly 100 babies. This fluctuates from time to time. They also have an NPCN (neonatal progressive care nursery). This unit holds about 60 babies maybe more. I hope to raise enough to donate to both the NICU and NPCN. So tell everyone you know to help me reach my goal by 3/9/09.


Ways you can become involved.....

1. You can mail donated preemie onesies/clothing

2. You can donate money to go toward the purchase of new preemie onesies. (see left upper cornor of this blog)

3. You can place a flyer in your church, staff break room at your job, or local businesses with a box to help gather donations and mail them to the PO Box. (If you gather a large donation I will gladly pay for shipping).


**I will make a flyer and send it to your email to print if you would like to help in that way.

I will keep updated post on onesies/clothing received.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask. You can reach me at either carlynicoleelliotte@gmail.com

Thanks for your help and participation,
Rachel and Ryan


Q&A

1. Do we only want new onesies? Yes. The hospital only accepts new items.

2. Do we only want onesies? No. Onesies are great because they are easier to use. But the babies can still be dressed in outfits as well. You can send sleepers, rompers, shirt and pants, what ever you would like to send.

3. Do we only accept preemie sizes? No! We would like MORE preemie sizes than not because most babies in the NICU are smaller babies. We will take new born and 0-3 month though as well as preemie sizes. Not all babies in the hospital are always small. There are plenty of babies in the NICU born at term with other health risk that causes them to be in the NICU.

4. Do we need any other items other than clothing? Yes! We will gladly accept receiving blankets. We also need baby hats. These can be bought or they can be knitted or crocheted. Preemie sizes and newborn sizes are perfect. Socks are another thing that can be donated. Small socks are great. It's hard to find SUPER small sock for tiny babies but I did have a pair that fit my 3 pounder. But I'm not sure where to purchase socks of that extreme small size. And lastly quilts are great! They use quilts to cover the issoletts to help block out any noise and light to help the babies get as much peace and quite necessary. Many groups such as churches and what not make quilts for reasons such as these. The quilts to cover the issoletts need to be about 36inches by 36 inches maybe a tad bigger.

I'm sure there are other questions that I'm missing but as I get new questions I'll post as quickly as possible with an answer.

Thank you all for helping us in this project!