How can you help?
St Kilda Mums is entirely run by volunteers and all contributions of time are valuable. If you are interested in volunteering we hold regular information sessions, usually in the evening, where you can come and meet us, and learn about what we do.
What skills do we most need?
We need help with all sorts of tasks big and small. It might be something as simple as banking a cheque or you might sign up for our Saturday clothing quality control roster which is a couple of hours every 6 weeks or so. We all have family and other responsibilities that come before our volunteer work so we have evolved a model of doing things that maximises flexibility. We sort, clean, pack and label in our homes, at our own pace, and we do what we can when we can. Every small job that is done saves another item ending up in landfill and helps another family out. The sense of satisfaction is enormous and our attention to detail and familiarity with the use and practicality of nursery items is invaluable.
Some volunteer opportunities we have open now include:
- Making up feeding starter kits - for breast feeding and bottle feeding. (training required but you can do this at your home)
- Sourcing product manuals for loading onto our website (in your own time from home - just need some computer time)
- Cleaning and checking toys - and making them up into age appropriate bundles (either at working bee or at your own home)
- Join the quality control roster - helping to sort and pack donated clothing - 3 hours on a Saturday afternoon every 6 weeks - location St Kilda
- Repair and check prams, cots, car seats etc to our checklist that covers current mandatory standards (this requires additional training)
- Sewing and repairing of donated clothing (at your home)
- Graphic design - help us to improve our website, Facebook, stationary etc
What next?
If you are keen to get involved please read our Volunteer Rights and Policy and email us stkildamums@gmail.com. Please briefly outline your interests, skills and experience as they apply to St Kilda Mums. We will invite you along to the next volunteer meeting or working bee so you can meet some of the team and see what we do first hand.
How you have helped
'The work that you do is invaluable, and helps people to know that other people care. Having nice things can help to break the cycle of poverty, and for people who are trapped in a culture of poverty, having something nice can help them to feel normalised.
For a mum or dad with young children, its lovely to walk down the street with a decent pram that’s not all ripped up, or dirty, and to have good clothes to dress the children in which at a very basic level ‘breaks the rules of wealth and division’, and creates a whole new set of expectations of life .
I have seen children get their bundles of beautiful well presented clothes and the children open them up as if it was Xmas. Having some clothes or toys helps parents to nurture their children, and children can present well at school or kindergarten which ultimately helps with their learning process and integration."
Gina Rennie, Uniting Care Connections
'The pram is beyond great- Mum said she could hardly believe it when she set it up. She has said the kids love it, esp the four year old who is able to stand on platform on the back (he even showed me he thought it was that cool). She said that people in the street had approached her and asked if they could buy it off her! Comments she has made "I am so lucky", "the kids love it", "I don't know how you got it for me". She really was ecstatic with it. She particularly loved that the children could recline as she could lower the seats back.
So glad you were able to help, and please extend my warmest thanks to the individuals who donated it- I really has made such a difference to her and the kids."
Lisa Jenkins, Child Protection Case Manager, Department of Human Services
St Kilda Mums Inc. 2009
