The Vice President’s visit highlights the national nonprofit’s impact serving 1 million children annually across the United States.
LOS ANGELES, May 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Today, Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Los Angeles where she toured the Baby2Baby headquarters and warehouse, also meeting with mothers to discuss maternal healthcare and support for families. The visit included the announcement of a new Baby2Baby pilot program alongside the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to distribute Newborn and Maternal Supply Kits made up of essential goods and critical maternal health items.
Baby2Baby is a non-profit organization that provides children living in poverty with diapers, formula, clothing, and the basic necessities that every child deserves, serving more than one million children across all 50 states. One in three families in this country struggle to provide diapers to their children. Since 2020 Baby2Baby has seen a 500% increase in diaper requests, with requests for 1.3 billion diapers this year alone.
During the tour, Baby2Baby Co-CEOs Norah Weinstein and Kelly Sawyer Patricof walked Vice President Harris through the facility to view their mass diaper distribution system, the range of critical items they distribute including formula, car seats, cribs, clothing, backpacks and school supplies and their disaster relief program. HHS Assistant Secretary for Children and Families January Contreras joined them to showcase the Newborn and Maternal Supply Kits.
“At Baby2Baby, we have distributed more than 300 million diapers and basic essentials over the past 12 years, and yet this is just a fraction of the need that exists,” said Baby2Baby Co-CEOs, Norah Weinstein and Kelly Sawyer Patricof. “The Vice President’s visit offered us an important opportunity to share the needs of mothers and children around the country, and continue to discuss shared solutions.”
“The disparities in maternal and neonatal health care in this country are staggering – and unacceptable. The pilot program with Baby2Baby provides much needed supplies to mothers and their newborns,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “The Biden-Harris Administration will continue to use every lever available to address the disparities in our health care system and provide whole-person care to pregnant people and their families. This is another strong example of government working in partnership with leaders in the community to solve problems for the American people.”
Baby2Baby and HHS will first distribute 3,000 of the Newborn and Maternal Supply Kits across Arkansas, Louisiana, and New Mexico – three states experiencing deep levels of family poverty – via hospitals and community-based partner organizations. The kits consist of more than 20 items including diapers and wipes, clothing, hygiene items, blankets and thermometers as well as items to support new mothers, including postpartum pads, lotion, cold packs, breastfeeding supplies and carriers.
“The partnership between Baby2Baby and the U.S Department of Health and Human Services comes at a moment where the demand for essential goods for infants and families continues to rise,” Baby2Baby Co-CEOs, Norah Weinstein and Kelly Sawyer Patricof further shared. “We want to ensure that new moms have everything they need to get their babies’ lives started off on the right track. When we can provide these critical items, not only can mothers pay their rent and put food on the table, but it helps their mental health by alleviating the stress of meeting their children’s most basic needs.”
Following the pilot program implementation, the goal is to expand this effort, to significantly increase the number of American families receiving these Newborn and Maternal Supply Kits.
About Baby2Baby: Baby2Baby is a $70 million national non-profit organization that provides children living in poverty with diapers, formula, clothing, and the basic necessities that every child deserves, serving more than one million children across all 50 states. Led by Co-CEOs Kelly Sawyer Patricof and Norah Weinstein, the organization has distributed over 300 million items over the past 12 years – more than any organization of its kind – to children across hospital networks, underserved school districts, and federal agencies addressing poverty, disaster response, and other areas of need. The organization’s success has been propelled forward by its industry-leading model that is redefining what it means to operate a non-profit with a seamless integration of impact, innovation, and influence, which earned them recognition as the #1 non-profit on Fast Company’s World’s Most Innovative Companies List. To learn more about Baby2Baby, please visit www.baby2baby.org and follow them on Instagram at @baby2baby.
SOURCE Baby2Baby
