Service Challenge – Lullaby Connection Blankets for Babies

I absolutely love service. I think it is an amazing way to truly make EVERY day, the BEST day for our families. Whether we serve our own families or teach them to serve others, I know we can find happiness in our homes when we do good deeds.

I am excited to introduce you to our Service Challenge for the month of March! This is a challenge that I hope not only you will participate in, but that you will share it with your friends and family. To start off, I have asked Darla, founder of The Lullaby Connection, to tell you a little bit about her story and how she started her non-profit organization.

Here is Darla:

They say that when one door closes another one opens and this door smacked me right between the eyes. The year was 2001 and all my children where in school full time and I began to feel a little empty in the arms and needed a baby fix so I decided I would become a volunteer at University Medical Center. At the time I was relatively new to Las Vegas and didn’t know much about the hospital or the needs of the community, but that was about to change quickly!  Within a few weeks of working at UMC the volunteer director and I had a conversation about the needs of many of the babies leaving the hospital. Every week there seemed to be a nurse, a social worker or parent requesting assistances for very basic necessities for these infants to go home with, but not a blanket or extra set of clothes were easily obtained. The final straw for me was when I saw a young mother wrap her newborn in her sweater as she was discharged. Being a mother, of 4 daughters, myself I never dreamed of even bringing home one of my girls in a used outfit let alone in one of my own garments, it broke my heart. I began to ask around to see whom I could contact or where I could send people for assistance. To my surprise there were no agencies that supplied disadvantaged newborns with essential provisions. I struggled with this revelation a few days and then one night I turned my concerns over to the Lord and prayed that I would find someone that would be able to help fill this need.  The answer to that request was why not you! I had an overwhelming feeling, that said you saw the need therefore you should do something about it. So I decided that maybe with the help of my family, friends and members of my Church we could assemble layette packets and provide them to the hospital for emergency purposes. Everyone was in! The service project began and within a few weeks we had collected enough newborn outfits, blankets, hats and booties to make 150 layettes packets whew, we saved the world or at least our little corner of it.

I must admit that I felt rather proud of this accomplishment when I returned to UMC with layettes in toe prepared to hear the sounds of trumpets and banners waving saying mission accomplished! And, Here’s where the door of humility hits me: the community relations coordinator contacted me about my little feat and asked if we could meet in his office to discuss this so called project of mine. and although he was impressed with the amount of layettes that were produced his following statement was, “can you do this again next month?” He then began to tell me in real terms what the actual needs were, in a hospital where over 3,000 babies are born each year, the odds are high that not every baby is discharged to a home fully equipment to care for a newborn. In fact an estimated 400 infants leave local hospitals each month without adequate provisions. Most of these babies go home to at risk families, some end up at Child Haven, or are discharged in the care of another relative who may not be fully prepared for a new baby.

My moment in the sun now had a dark shadow looming above it, here I was hoping to have filled a hole only to find out that it was a crater deeper than I thought. Our conversation needless to say was an eye opener and presented another question, How can I do this again? More importantly how could I not?

So with a fervent prayer in my heart I began to brainstorms ways to set up this task at hand. I knew I couldn’t continually ask my friends, neighbors, family and church to support me, so I turned to my husband for council and he advised me to start a non profit charity.

Thus enters “The Lullaby Connection” a unique non-profit organization dedicated to making sure underserved babies born in the Las Vegas Valley are provided with basic essentials. TLC provides these tiny infants with new layette packets filled with new blankets, outfits, booties, hats and booties. TLC coordinates services directly through local medical and social service agencies that provide care for disadvantaged babies and their families. TLC also provides burial outfits for perinatal loss situations and creates Tiny tote diaper bags filled with travel-size hygiene necessities that are distributed throughout Clark County.

Currently, TLC has distributed over 13,000 layette packets; more than 2,500 diapers bags (Tiny Totes) and other infant essentials to scores of medical and non-profit organizations throughout Southern Nevada.

TLC’s mission is to ensure that at-risk babies born in the Las Vegas Valley begin their life with something new, warm and filled with Love. It’s a simple mission, yet these single acts of compassion have significant impact upon the families and individuals for whom even the most basic needs are difficult to secure.

TLC also sponsors an annual “Helping for the Holidays” event each November.  This pre-holiday gathering collects toys, pajamas, underwear, diapers and other necessities for local social service agencies that provide holiday help to needy children and their families. TLC is committed to continuing to serve our community by identifying needs and creating services to help fill those needs.  We want to make our community a better place to live, allow community members and businesses the opportunity to serve, and spread the desire to touch and change lives. There is no charge for TLC services.

For more information on becoming a sponsor, volunteer, or to receive an application for services please contact us at lullabyconnection@yahoo.com

“From hand to hand and heart to heart, everyone needs a little TLC, especially babies”

For this months Service Challenge, I have teamed up with The Lullaby Connection and have a special assignment for each of you!

Here is the challenge:

(1) MAKE OR BUY A BLANKET. It doesn’t matter if you sew it yourself, crochet, make a tie blanket for those who don’t know how to sew well {LIKE ME!} or even buy a blanket! I saw some at Target and Wal-Mart for only $5!

(2) PRINT OUT THIS TAG: Blankets for Babies Tag PDF Print Out

(3) TAKE A PICTURE OF THE BLANKET AND POST IT ON SOCIAL MEDIA OR EMAIL IT TO ME. If you post it please tag Today’s The Best Day and hashtag #LullabyConnectionChallenge or email at todaysthebestday01@gmail.com.

(4) MAIL IT TO {or drop off if you are local} BY MARCH 31, 2014: 3001 La Mesa Henderson, NV 89014

I have set a goal to donate 100 blankets by March 31, 2014. It is a hefty goal, but it is my hope that with your help and all of us working together, that we can achieve it! Let’s teach our families this month how to serve. I know as we work on a blanket with our children or take them to the store and have them pick out a blanket they would like to donate to a little baby in need, it will bring our families closer together. There is no better time to teach out children to serve… than today! And not only will we make it the best day for our families, but we will be able to make those babies and new mothers in the hospitals who need us at this time, have the BEST DAY!

We hope you will share! —

Danielle is the owner of Today's the Best Day. She strives to provide creative and uplifting content in order to enrich the parenting experience for women everywhere. Danielle hopes to help you and your family to make every day the best day!

March 10, 2014 by Danielle Davis | 4 Comments