Families in Need Receive Luxury Treatment....

I spent a few days this past week weeding through all the toys and clothes that my kids have outgrown. Most were delegated to the "gently used/donation" pile (but I must admit that I snuck a few straight into the trash or scrap cloths bin, since I would have been ashamed to donate worn out, holey clothing to those in need.)

For the most part, mis niños were sweet enough to help me bag everything to take to our local GCF (there was some occasional bursts of sudden interest in a particular toy.) But after donating the items, I felt mixture of pride over the generous act, hope that the action had contributed to my daughter's education on the topic of thinking of those less fortunate, and relief that I had helped to declutter some of my house!

The first two emotions lead me to the topic of this post. A couple weeks ago, I was excited to read about the Baby Day Luxe program. It is the superbisimo idea by Carol Schiller, owner of Baby Chaleco. Inspired when she was asked to participate in the baby give-away suite at the Golden Globes, Carol decided to team up with Paige Collins - manager of the Providence Regina House - to create a Hollywood-style give-away bash benefitting lower income families.

Regina House is a clothing and food bank that distributes donated items to less fortunate families in the Seattle area. Their regular Baby Day is during the first Saturday of each month and gives out items such as formula, diapers, baby food and clothing.

So this past January, Carol and Paige launched Baby Day Luxe and timed this charity event to coincide with the Golden Globes. Carol approached several of her contacts in the baby business to contribute products, and by the time January rolled around, eight baby companies had signed on. This time, along with the usual necessities, clients of the Providence Regina House received luxurious baby products including, organic baby blankets, footwear, bibs, pacifiers and more.

Baby Day Luxe was a huge success (see picture above) and is now planned as an annual event with ideas for expanding to the East Coast. I for one an looking forward to donating Latin Baby products to next year's event.

So, Amigas, I have to ask...what about ya'll? Is it time to do some Spring Cleaning? Why not spend this next weekend cleaning out your house by gathering all your gently-used clothing and whatnots? Then make a group outing of it and take your stuff to your local clothing bank or community shelter. It is an excellent opportunity for helping out those less fortunate than you and a fantastico way to teach your children the values of compassion, generosity, selflessness and even recycling!