WSB Blog – WestSide Baby

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…

27Mar 2020 by Toni Sarge

THANK YOU video and letter from our Virtual Community in Bloom

Events

https://youtu.be/hW4P-W2Ul6o Dear Friend, Some great news in the face of many challenges - we raised $319,186 over the last week as part of our Community in Bloom virtual fundraiser! We are amazed at the generosity of you and our community in the middle of this unpredictable time. Thanks to you, we are able to continue to respond to the most emergent needs of our community right now. I am proud to continue working with the entire WestSide Baby staff, volunteers, board of directors, and our community toward our bold vision of ensuring children have the basic items they need to thrive and bloom. I want to also say thank you to all of our sponsors, for stepping up and sticking with us during this change. A special thank you to our Presenting Sponsor - Sarah Cecil of Edward Jones, who…

19Mar 2020 by Toni Sarge

Announcing our NEW Executive Director!

News, Portfolio

Announcing WestSide Baby's new Executive Director: Sarah Cody Roth! Stay up-to-date with all our announcements here. On behalf of the WestSide Baby Board of Directors, I am pleased to announce that we recently offered the open Executive Director position to Sarah Cody Roth and she accepted! Sarah Cody Roth has served on staff at WestSide Baby for over four years, first as Director of Development and then as Deputy Director. As WestSide Baby has grown, Sarah has ensured we have the capacity we need to sustain a lasting impact, by leading long-term planning and staff development efforts while overseeing our development and marketing teams. Sarah has thirteen years of experience in leadership within the public and nonprofit sectors, focusing on policy and advocacy, public relations, fundraising and nonprofit management. She…

12Mar 2020 by Toni Sarge

Emergency Diaper Distribution: COVID-19 Response

News, Portfolio

Emergency Diaper Distribution: COVID-19 Response Stay up-to-date with all our announcements here. While our community deals with the public health crisis of COVID-10, WestSide Baby is suspending our normal operations in order to focus our energy on rapidly adapting to what our partners and families need. We already know 23% of families with young children across King County experience difficulty affording enough diapers to keep their child safe, warm and dry and COVID-19 will have the greatest detrimental effects on the health and well-being of our community within families who are already struggling to make ends meet. On Thursday (3/12) we distributed 45,684 diapers and on Tuesday (3/17) we distributed 74,276 diapers for a total of 119,960 diapers as part of an emergency response to help families stock up on essential…

11Mar 2020 by Toni Sarge

Keeping our Community Safe: WestSide Baby to suspend normal operations beginning Friday, March 13.

News

Keeping our Community Safe: WestSide Baby to suspend normal operations beginning Friday, March 13. Stay up-to-date with all our announcements here. Beginning Friday, March 13, 2020 WestSide Baby operations will be suspended so that we can focus on adapting to meet the most urgent needs of the community we serve and so that we can do our part in keeping our community safe. We will be constantly assessing how we can support children’s most basic needs during this suspension of operations. As of now, we are unable to comply with Public Health guidelines within our normal operations. WestSide Baby relies upon groups of volunteers, many within populations most vulnerable to COVID-19, to sort and process a large volume of items collected from our community. Our normal operations pose too great…