Boxes of Love for Mom began as a personal project for a new mom who was also beginning her journey into grieving the loss of her own mother. Coming to terms with the fact that Nana would never physically meet her first grandchild in this world was heartbreaking. Becoming a mother without being able to turn to Nana for support, knowledge, and unconditional love left a gaping hole that needed to be filled. The anonymous donor began to search for meaning in a world that is, at times, unimaginably cruel and found comfort in the faith that she was raised in as a child, the same faith that meant so much to Nana.
Driven to make a difference in the world, particularly to support new mothers, the donor began “Boxes of Love for Mom” with the assistance of her husband. He designed her a logo and listened to her dreams as she began conceiving the idea of this memorial project. She put in her first orders for support items to fill bankers boxes and over the course of a few months filled a corner of their child’s nursery room with the shipments. After work and bedtime at night, and on weekends during naptime, the process began.
Items were unpacked from shipments, box lids were wrapped in wrapping paper, and items were sorted to fill each box. Logos and labels (for the item contents, as well as an inspirational message to the moms) were created, printed, and glued to each box individually. Infant clothing, nonperishable food, and support items for the moms were lovingly wrapped in tissue paper.
On September 17, 2021 the first 20 Boxes of Love for Mom were personally delivered directly to the childbirth center where the donor gave birth to her first child. With the help of the hospital’s Development Team, the donor was able to coordinate having the boxes brought right to the maternity unit to be given out by the professional midwives who were so significant in the powerful birth experience of the donor. The donor was so excited to drop off the boxes, but also heartbroken at the thought of ending the journey with a single personal donation.
Since then, the donor has worked with the support of family members such as her father, mother-in-law (mother-in-“Love” as we say), aunts, and caring members of the community who have donated their time and efforts to putting together a second, smaller batch of Boxes of Love for Mom that was delivered to the hospital on March 11, 2022. This batch was even better than the first, combining care items purchased by the donor with handcrafted infant hats, booties, and blankets lovingly knitted by talented members of the community. After reaching out to a local nonprofit (It Takes a Village) for brochures about their free postpartum and early parenting support services to include with the boxes, they donated gently used infant clothing, bibs, receiving blankets, and board books which were also included.
It has quickly become clear to the donor that she cannot do this all-important work alone. Her incredible husband has spent his evenings and weekends helping her to create this website, in hopes that others in the community will be inspired to help fill more boxes for more new moms. By involving family, friends, and community members we hope to distribute more Boxes of Love for Mom that are better than we could have ever imagined!
Stay tuned to see how we grow!