Infant Essentials

The creation of Infant Essentials was a journey I began in 2012 when I drove passed a homeless couple here in my home town of Cambria, holding a sign "looking for work, food, money". I was caught off guard when I noticed that there was a baby in a stroller behind the couple.

It happened to be my daughter Gwen's First Birthday and I was coming home from the grocery store having bought food for our 15 person family celebration dinner. I felt guilty for having all of the wonderful things that we have been blessed with, but also felt helpless because what could I offer them that would make a difference in their lives? I ran home and grabbed some baby snacks from our cupboard and brought them along with $20 to the couple. They were very thankful, but I didn't feel any better.

I embraced the moment and finally put my Community Health Degree back to work and began a needs assessment. I discovered pretty quickly that Diapers are in high demand amongst the homeless community. Neither the FoodStamps nor WIC programs offer diapers or diaper discounts, and none of our shelters or day centers here in SLO County have the ability to store or distribute goods like diapers. Having found this information I began the journey to create a non-profit organization called Infant Essentials. The goal being to provide necessary comforts to homeless and low income infants 0-3 years old.

After a year and a half of paper work, phone calls, and also having another baby, I launched Infant Essentials in 2013 with our first Diaper drive. In total we collected 2,021 diapers, as well as $270 in donations!

Now we are coming up on our Second Annual Diaper Drive this November, but have decided to kick it off with a fundraising event. "Bottoms Up" is the name of our event that will consist of a silent auciton, live music by Ranchers For Peace, appetizers, and wine and beer. The ticket cost is $20 and they can be purchased at the event or on our website at www.infantessentials.org. 

It is our goal to raise $2,500 to be able to expand our scope of services from only diapers to baby wipes and safety kits.

Thank you to my two wonderful Board Members Margie and Helen, you are both creative and brilliant!