Hi,
Welcome to our first supporter newsletter for 2021! I hope you managed to spend some time relaxing over the Christmas break.
I’m sure some of you are aware by now that I have resigned from my position as CEO at St Kilda Mums, Geelong Mums and Eureka Mums. My last day will be Wednesday 31 March.
Twelve years ago, I noticed some baby goods stacked high in the photocopying room at the St Kilda Maternal and Child Health Centre on Chapel Street. They had been kindly donated by local parents in the area. I saw a need and volunteered to sort, launder and package the preloved goods for rehoming to families who might need them.
Three things struck me at that time - waste, need and opportunity. From that day to the first working bee organised to the network of sister organisations across Australia and the hundreds of thousands of babies and children supported, the vision of a kinder fairer future has always driven me.
As many of you know, I have a very strong passion for technology - Salesforce in particular. So I am leaving to follow another seed of an idea - similar to that day twelve years ago - helping people get well paid, meaningful and flexible jobs in technology. It is the use of technology that powered our rapid growth, and I plan to help other organisations with their digital transformations.
It has been such a pleasure to meet and speak with so many of you over the years.
We have a wonderful board and staff team who will all contribute to reshaping the next phase of our incredible organisation. There are always families needing help and I know they will continue supporting them with you by their side for many years to come.
Please read on for some of the exciting things happening across our three branches.
Warm regards,
Jessie
2020 impact
Here are just a few of the incredible highlights you made possible last year!
- 18,872 babies and children supported across 8,735 families
- 865 cots
- 1,929 car seats
- 1,850 prams
- 58,926 items rehomed
- Total value of $6,801,626
You should feel especially proud of this impact, given the fact that we were in lockdown for most of the year.
I am always conscious of the families who we have not yet reached. There are an estimated 196,500 children under the age of 14 living in poverty in Victoria, and our goal is to have a state wide service that helps them all.
Thank you for your continued support.
Young Citizen of the Year
You may recognise Aiden from the ‘Four Golden Hearts’ group which we shared on our social media back in August 2020. Four Golden Hearts collected donations from the community and packed over 70 bags of full size toiletries to donate to St Kilda Mums. In January 2021, Aiden was awarded ‘Young Citizen of the Year’ by the Boroondara Council for their annual Citizen and Young Citizen of the Year awards for his amazing efforts in the community. Congratulations Aiden!
Return of School Group Volunteering
We are so excited to be able to welcome school groups back to our warehouse this year, with a number already booking in. Students in Year 9 and above have the opportunity to learn about the need for safe prams and cots, warm clothing, books and nappies. We explain some of the causes of disadvantage of the people we help and also provide feedback we have received from social workers and families.
Handmade with love
We have received some amazing donations over the last few weeks including these beautiful hand made quilts, toiletry bags and nappy bags all made with love by talented sewers. Thanks so much!
We have a new board member
We are delighted to announce that Morelle Bull has joined the St Kilda Mums Inc. Volunteer Board. Morelle is a senior lawyer with over 15 years' experience working in a number of regulatory and legal roles. Morelle currently works at ANZ in the Australia Division where she is responsible for supporting the business lending teams.
Morelle has been a valued volunteer since September 2017, when she joined our Finance Risk and Audit Committee (FRAC). Morelle has also worked very closely with me on policy and legal matters.
MamaCare and St Kilda Mums
We’re excited to be partnering with MamaCare, who are committed to supporting the good health and wellbeing of mums. They have extended this support to the network of families we help, particularly mums and mums-to-be, by donating one tin of MamaCare Premium Pregnancy Supplement for every tin sold. They have also made a generous financial contribution to ensure we can provide more babies with a safe start to life, particularly at such an uncertain time. Join the mamahood here.
Annual Report
Our 2019/20 Annual Report is now online. Thank you to our amazing community who helped 20,004 children in an incredibly challenging year. Click here to read our Annual Report and to learn more about your impact last year.
Rehoming your preloved goods
Recently Lyn dropped off a beautifully cleaned Redsbaby pram to our warehouse and within 45 minutes, our team made sure it was safety checked and ready for delivery to a family in urgent need in regional Victoria.
Thanks so much to Lyn and our amazing community of supporters who have cleaned, sorted, repaired and dropped off their donations recently. All your support is making a huge difference to many families across Victoria.
If you would like to donate your preloved items please visit this page on our website for the best way to get these to us.
Thank you for sharing the joy
Thanks to you, we can work in many ways with social workers to provide support to families all across Victoria.
Recently we were able to support a mother in regional Victoria and received a special message of thanks from the family.
"Just letting you know I had one very grateful and happy mum receive her goods today. She was over the moon and also couldn't believe you put something in for her as well. She got extra excited over the baby bottles and thanked you all for your dedication!"
- Andrea, Social Worker
