25 Days Of Volunteering—Day 21: Baby Bundle Drive

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — 'Tis the season for giving back to your community. There are a number of ways that you and your family can help others through the holidays.

Every day through Christmas, Patch will be highlighting a way you can provide compassion and resources to those in need.

Volunteer New York! makes it easy to find ways to help — through donations, supporting nonprofits and even volunteering from home.

Today's opportunity is helping to supply baby bundles for families in need with Open Door Care Network | https://opendoorcarenetwork.org/

Many of the families that come to Open Door Family Medical Center must make the hard choice between paying bills and buying diapers, not to mention other necessary items for infants. Open Door's Baby Bundle program provides families with the essentials to give them a good start at parenthood and to keep their babies healthy and safe.

Baby Bundles are filled with baby wipes, diapers, thermometers, sleep sacks, diaper cream, outfits, a book, a toy, and other baby products.

The Baby Bundle program is sustained entirely through community support donations, and Baby Bundle Volunteers can help by encouraging their friends, families, colleagues, or organizations to participate in an in-kind drive.

The following is a list of low-inventory items:

• Sleep 'n Play outfits (0-6 months)
• Diapers
• White onesies (0-6 months)
• Hooded bath towels
• Sleep sacks (0-6 months)
• Hats (newborn)
• Socks (0-6 months)
• Baby thermometers

Open Door Family Medical Center provides health care and wellness programs to individuals and families in need throughout Westchester, Putnam, Ulster and Dutchess Counties. A pioneer Federally Qualified Health Center, Open Door provides more than 300,000 patient visits annually and serves over 62,000 individual patients, who might not otherwise have access to care.Open Door Family Medical Center's midwives deliver nearly 400 babies a year. The majority of its patients live at or below the federal poverty level. They struggle with inadequate housing, food insecurity, low levels of health literacy, and cultural and language barriers. Add to this the emotional and financial pressure of a new baby, and the precarious balance of daily life can be at risk.

Express interest in helping with the drive here.

Check out all the volunteer opportunities around the Hudson Valley by visiting the Holiday Volunteering web page.