WSB Blog – WestSide Baby

11Nov 2020 by Toni Sarge

JOY 2020

Events

Give JOY!Give Warmth!GIVE with WestSide Baby! With community support, we are going to distribute over 2 million diapers by the end of the year. This year, WestSide Baby, with the help of our partner agencies, has reached more children than ever. Since unemployment rates in our community skyrocketed in April, to families still not having full and safe access to childcare or school this fall, we continue to rapidly respond to this basic needs emergency. Every year, we see an increased need in our community during November and December. This year is no different as families contend with the impacts of COVID-19. The weather gets colder, and families on a limited income stretch their dollars to keep their little ones warm. Take Action: Give Dollars for Diapers Give dollars for…

05Nov 2020 by Toni Sarge

New Mural: “WestSide Baby’s Community”

News

WestSide Baby's Community Mural Over the weekend, our north-facing wall was given a beautiful update with a mural, titled “WestSide Baby’s Community” by artist Angelina Villalobos (@onesevennine) We are so excited to share our new mural with you! "WestSide Baby's Community" is the end result of many conversations for many years, but was pushed forward by our desire to communicate our organizational values of Humanity, Resilience, and Intentionality OUTSIDE our warehouse walls in response to the murder of George Floyd in late May and the continued fight for justice in our community and beyond. A team of WestSide Baby staff worked with the artist to design a mural that honored that sentiment with words such as justice, humanity, and equity. A note from the Artist, Angelina Villalobos: I centered a…

01Oct 2020 by Toni Sarge

FAQ

Events

How WestSide Baby Will Emerge:FAQ for Operations during COVID-19: Phase II and beyond What is the main factor driving WestSide Baby’s decisions for distribution, volunteers, and item collection? WestSide Baby exists to provide basic essentials for children in need. Our operations during the COVID-19 pandemic have, and will continue to, center our community – families furthest from access to essential items. We will work through our network of 100+ partner organizations to find out what families need most immediately, and then we will focus our efforts to source and supply those items. During this pandemic, we will also center the health & safety of our staff, volunteers, and donors by keeping volunteer and item collection within the social distancing guidance provided by Public Health Seattle & King County and the Washington State Department of Health. We absolutely understand our community’s desire to help during this time,…

21Sep 2020 by Erica Plowden

WestSide Baby & National Diaper Need Awareness Week

Events

Diaper Need is a lack of a sufficient supply of diapers to keep a baby clean, dry and healthy. NDNAW was created in 2012 to provide individuals, communities, organizations, and elected officials with opportunities to use simple actions to lead to real talk and real change to end this public health crisis. Diaper need affects 1 in 3 families nationally and 23% of families in King County. Within this 23%, families from BIPOC backgrounds are disproportionately impacted by diaper need. Our social safety net does not ensure equal assess to basic needs items. Nationally, low-income families pay up to 14% of their entire income on disposable diapers. WIC & food stamps do NOT cover diapers. Diaper need is receiving more attention with the recent onset of COVID-19. Access to diapers and…

05Aug 2020 by Erica Plowden

We Stuffed the Bus!

Events

We did it! We collected over 400,000 diapers this summer! Thank you for being a part of our 20th year of Stuff the Bus. Our community came together to collect 405,597 diapers! We could not have done this without those who hosted diaper drives, collected basics for babies, donated hygiene items and used our Amazon Wishlist to get those most needed items to WestSide Baby. YOU helped us beat our 350,000 Stuff the Bus diaper goal! Stuff the Bus Impact In 2019, WestSide Baby distributed 1.5 million diapers to King County families in need. Covid-19 has made Diaper Need more complex this year and to combat the need, we have distributed over 1.1 million diapers so far this year. We are proud of this number and we are only able…

09Jul 2020 by Toni Sarge

Donate Items to Stuff the Bus!

Events

Stuff the Bus is Seattle’s largest diaper drive and is your opportunity to collect diapers to ensure all babies have diapers to be healthy and happy. Host a virtual diaper drive, donate dollars for diapers, subscribe to a monthly diaper subscription, or simply send a box of diapers to WestSide Baby today! #Diapersforallbabies **Starting this week, you can donate unopened diapers, wipes, soaps, shampoo, and diaper cream in support of Stuff the Bus!** White Center Hub Drop-off Days Every Wednesday10am-2pm Want to help Stuff the Bus by donating a few basic need items? Bring these basics for babies to our White Center Hub! White Center Hub Drop-off Event July 15th10am-2pm Bring the diapers & hygiene items you've collected this summer from hosting a drive to our White Center location! South Lake Union Drop-off Event…

08Jun 2020 by Toni Sarge

Black Lives Matter.

News, Portfolio

Committing to Action. Black Lives Matter. At WestSide Baby this means black children, black families, and black health matters. We cannot be in alignment with our WestSide Baby values of humanity, of intentional action, and of resilience; our vision that all children have their basic needs met cannot be realized until black lives matter and until race no longer determines how likely it is that a child will have their most basic needs unmet. @ohhappydaniLawrence Bryant of [email protected] We acknowledge and apologize that we have stayed safe, we have avoided rocking the boat, and we are therefore complicit in allowing racism to persist. We at WestSide Baby mourn deeply and stand in solidarity with those in Seattle and beyond protesting and calling for justice for the murders of Ahmaud Arbery,…

19May 2020 by Toni Sarge

A Defining Moment: How WestSide Baby Will Emerge

News

A Defining Moment: How WestSide Baby Will Emerge: Part I “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other”Mother Teresa How will WestSide Baby re-emerge from this public health crisis? This is the question on our hearts and minds. At the center of who we are is a mission to meet the basic needs of children in our community. Before COVID-19 spread through King County, our social safety net had holes resulting in nearly 1 in 4 families unable to access the basic essentials they needed to keep children safe, warm, and thriving. Now, this crisis has laid bare these gaping holes, with more of us experiencing the stress of financial instability, and those already furthest from access being most impacted. WestSide…

19Apr 2020 by Erica Plowden

WestSide Baby on King 5 News!

News

New parents warned against homemade baby formula in coronavirus crisis Some families have been unable to stock up on — or find — baby products. Health officials are concerned by alternative recipes for formula circulating online. Author: Ted LandPublished: 10:07 PM PDT April 8, 2020Updated: 11:11 AM PDT April 13, 2020 In addition to concerns about finding toilet paper, some new parents are worried about getting enough formula and diapers. A Seattle non-profit said there's a recent surge in demand for baby products, while doctors have a warning for families seeking a do-it-yourself alternative to feed newborns. West Side Baby, an organization that provides diapers, formula, cribs, and strollers to families, has been inundated with cries for help during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In some cases, families under financial stress cannot afford products. In…

08Apr 2020 by Erica Plowden

Our Modified Distribution has begun!

News

The current COVID - 19 public health crisis has resulted in a ripple effect throughout our community. The scarcity of basic needs items, like diapers and baby wipes affects the families we serve who already struggle with getting essentials for their little ones. Our modified distribution plan allows us to continue to navigate as an essential service to keep our community safe. We are just getting started and have distributed 21,968 diapers, in addition to wipes, car seats, formula and hygiene items. WestSide Baby efforts to keep our community safe includes: Keeping distribution by appointment onlyLimiting items in orders for distributionEmergency distribution efforts, outreach with Seattle Public Schools and continued partnerships with food banks and other agenciesTaking additional sanitation measures to protect the health & safety of staff, partners and the families we serve While we…