Newborns in Need group offers assistance at critical time
ALLISON RUPP Star-Tribune staff writer | Posted: Monday, February 12, 2007 12:00 am
When a 13-month-old baby boy arrived on foster mother Debbie Firebaugh's door, he came only with a small diaper bag that held a couple of diapers.
"He had to be out of his home quickly," said Firebaugh, who eventually adopted the boy. "He didn't have a stuffed animal, a blanket, anything. There was really nothing to help us."
This is one of the main reasons Firebaugh volunteers her time to the Casper chapter of Newborns in Need.
The women who volunteer for Newborns in Need knit, crochet and sew blankets, clothes, diaper bags, booties, bibs and even stuffed animals for babies and families who need a little extra help.
They make burial outfits for newborns who die during birth or shortly after.
Rather than working directly with families, Ann Rollins, the president of the chapter, said they work with organizations such as the Department of Family Services, the Wyoming Medical Center, the Self-Help Center's safe house as well as others to get their hand-made goods to babies in crisis.
She said they make blankets and comfort toys for DFS counselors to give to babies when they have to be taken from their homes.
Firebaugh said this is especially good because the children who come through DFS are scared and going to new places and meeting new people that are strange to them.
The group also makes clothes for babies born prematurely.
"It's kind of difficult to find these types of clothes, especially at the spur of the moment," Rollins said. "You don't know you are having a preemie baby."
Rollins said there is special need for this type of service in this community because of the incidence of premature babies born to mothers abusing methamphetamine.
Also, the group of knitters sends kits of essential items for new mothers to the hospital.
Rollins takes comfort in making tiny burial garments for newborns who have died.
"I think about what I would want to hold my baby in the last time I hold them," Rollins said. "I try to put myself in their position."
Newborns in Need consists of 17 women volunteers, Rollins said. This includes a woman in Worland who sends the receiving blankets she makes to the group and another woman in Florida who also sends them hand-made crafts every month.
Brianna Bach is currently working on her second blanket for Newborns in Need. She admitted she's not as fast at finishing projects as some of the other women in the group.
"You can only do so much for your family and there are only so many blankets you can have for yourself," Bach said. "Maybe some kid you help with end of being the next president."
In January the group donated 153 items to local organizations.
Rollins started Newborns in Need in Wyoming after she read a brochure about the organization. She said she saw a need for the group in the community and the chapter officially began in May 2006.
"Your heart goes out to babies," Rollins said. "I have an empty nest and I thought it would fill my need for nurturing."
The group conducts fundraisers to raise money to buy yarn, fabric, stuffed animals and other supplies. Rollins said they also receive a lot of monetary donations and people in the community donate supplies, too.
The women in Newborns in Need meet on the second Saturday of every month to discuss their progress on projects, pick up new supplies and work on their pieces. The women continue to knit, crochet and sew on their own.
Rollins said she knits or crochets almost every day.
"It's kind of nice to find your niche in the community where you know you are helping," Rollins said. "The families feel so special that someone they're never going to meet would put so much time and care into something."