In Kind Boxes

You are loved

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February Update

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This was a very fun and busy month for us!

Some things that happened locally were that we were able to surprise our local Sherwood School District Staff and Teachers who are expecting (or have newborns) with a donation of gift boxes! We’re so grateful for all of the hard work our schools do to make learning fun for our kids. This has been a tough year for all of us, and we’re happy to provide them gift boxes to support them in postpartum.  Gift box donation deliveries were also made to the Mother and Child Education Center, and to the Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center’s Women’s Clinic.

Another way we gave back this month was through our Nationwide Gifting Program. We saw that families in Texas needed our help, and reached out to some organizations in Austin and Dallas. We ended up shipping gift boxes to the Austin Diaper Bank, and the Genesis Women’s Shelter in Dallas. Along with those, we also selected three recipients who had been nominated through our website to receive gift boxes. 

On February 17th, it was Random Acts of Kindness Day. On that day, The Hungry Hero Dessert Co. hosted a cupcake fundraiser for us! Alex baked up some extra delicious cupcakes, and helped us raise $337!!! We are so grateful to Alex, and the Sherwood community for showing up to support us that day. All funds raised go towards purchasing the supplies we use to fill our boxes.

Another exciting thing that happened that day, was that Maria was invited to share about In Kind Boxes in the One Kind Thing Room on Clubhouse. We are grateful to Phoebe Hunt for reaching out and asking us to participate that day. We love the chance to share about our mission to help moms.

We had a few technical difficulties with the website this month, so we took that as an opportunity to make a few updates. You will now find these additional payment options: credit cards (outside of PayPal), and Apple Pay. We also lowered the cost of shipping for US orders, by making it a flat rate of ten dollars. 

One final highlight for us, was receiving our hard copy edition of MORE Magazine. We are so thankful to the amazing Arianna Cruz for asking us to be part of such an incredible project. If you have a chance, you should go and check it out. We can’t wait to see their second issue coming out this Spring!

We are on track to send out our 100th donated gift box in 2021 in the first week of March!!!!

Thank you for your support. We couldn’t do what we do without you. 

~Maria

New Programs Announced!

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We are so excited to expand our network of giving across the United States this year!! We want to support more parents on their postpartum journey in 2021. In order to do that, we have increased our reach and opened our Nationwide Gift Box Donation Program. We now have an application process where people can nominate a mama or birthing parent to receive a gift box on us! Applications will be reviewed monthly, and gift boxes will be donated based on need. We are starting the program with donating five gift boxes a month, but we hope to give more as funding and demand increases. To apply for a box, or nominate someone who could use our help click here.

The second program we have opened nationwide is our Gift Box Sponsorship Program. If you’ve ever wanted to support families in your area with In Kind gift boxes, now you can! For a set donation, you can sponsor an organization near you to receive a gift box a month for a year. For more details, please click here.

We would love it if you would continue to share about these programs for us, and help us get the word out. Thank you for your continued support!

~Maria

December Update

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In December we donated more gift boxes than we ever have before! We were able to donate 50 gift boxes to families in need!!! That was made possible because of you. Thank you to everyone who donated to our gift box donation drive. Your generosity on Giving Tuesday was amazing. And we’re thankful to those who held Fundraisers on Facebook for that event. Not only did you help us raise money, but you also helped build awareness for the work we’re doing to help moms. Every action that you take whether it’s giving a moment of your time to give us a review, like or share our posts, send us kind messages, or tag us in your photos. All of it means so much! We’re so grateful for the support you’ve given us this year. We couldn’t have helped the number of families we did without you. In 2020 we helped 465 families by providing them with gift boxes! That’s more than a gift box a day!!!

In December we made gift box donation deliveries to several of our local partners. Domestic Violence Resource Center received 5 gift boxes, as well as a large box filled with Earth Mama Organics deodorant. Megan from DVRC says they’ll be using the deodorant to fill the hygiene kits they give to families. Raphael House PDX received 10 gift boxes. We always enjoy meeting with Quinn and hearing about the amazing work they’re doing.

Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center Women’s Clinic received their fifth gift box donation delivery in 2020 of 25 gift boxes, bringing their total for the year to 125 gift boxes!!!! We have been told that they are currently experiencing a baby boom, so we plan on making another gift box donation delivery very soon! Mother and Child Education Center also received their fifth delivery in 2020, totaling 25 gift boxes for the year. Ronald McDonald House has their annual holiday market where families can “shop” for gifts for free. We are excited to include our gift boxes in that market, and bring some joy to new and expecting mamas staying at RMHC Oregon over the holidays.

We worked hard to finalize some new programs that we will be revealing in the New Year. Maria shared a Reel on Instagram on New Year’s Eve with the exciting news that we have launched a gift box donation program that is open to families in need across the United States! We’re so excited to spread more love and kindness to mamas, and birthing parents in a bigger way in 2021.

Thank you for being here, and supporting our mission to help moms. Wishing you a happy and healthy new year!

~Maria

Gift Box Donation Drive

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As we head into the holiday season, our nonprofit partners have reached out to us to provide the mamas they serve with gift boxes. In November alone, we have gift box donations scheduled with Baby Blues Connection, PDX Diaper Bank, and Raphael House PDX, totaling over 30 gift boxes donated. We have almost double that scheduled for December. To be able to meet this high demand, we are hosting a donation drive. We would love to donate as many gift boxes as needed, to bring joy to mamas during this especially tough time for families.

Since we are a volunteer run organization, all funds you donate go directly back to furthering our mission to help moms. When you make a donation of $50 or more we are able to donate a box to a mom in need. To make your donation extra special, we will be including a lovely card from you to the gift box.

If you are a business, and would like to donate $50 or more, as an extra incentive we will select a post from your business’ Instagram page to share in our Instagram stories, and thank you for your generosity. We love sharing and supporting our favorite small businesses.

Thank you for helping us help moms in need with your donation!

We are so grateful for your support.

September Update

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In September we were proud participants of the Born This Way Foundation’s #BeKind21 challenge. We spent September 1-21 focusing on acts of kindness we could do for ourselves and for others. It was a great event, and we can’t wait to do it again next year. As part of BeKind21 In Kind was featured in an article by Channel Kindness, and the Born This Way Foundation!! It was very exciting for us and we are so thankful to both organizations for their support!

We also got to donate boxes to one of our newest partners- Clackamas Women’s Services. CWS provides a wide range of support for women, children and families including shelter, crisis support line, counselling and support groups, community education, and culturally specific programming wherever possible. 

In September we hosted two giveaways. The first was with The Conscious Kid. For those who aren’t familiar with The Conscious Kid, they are an education, research, and policy organization dedicated to equity and promoting healthy racial identity development in youth. The Conscious Kid is doing amazing things to help people during this crazy time of COVID like rent relief, mattress donations for kids, book donations to teachers and more. We are so happy to have been able to partner with them to offer gift boxes to their followers.

The second giveaway was with Mapel Boutique. The owner of Mapel is a local mama, and we were so excited to partner with a women run business for this event. Mapel carries many products made by women in the US as well. It’s so amazing when we can come together and support one another for giveaways like this.

At the end of September we posted about an opportunity for Doulas and Midwives to be sponsored in 2021 with a gift box a month for the year. This is a chance for birth workers to provide an extra level of support to families in their care. We’re excited to read all of the entries as they come in! The application deadline is November 1, 2020, and the winners will be notified by December 1, 2020.

Thank you for your continued support of what we do. Your purchases and donations make a true impact. I couldn’t do what I do without you.

-Maria

Gift Box Sponsorship Application

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Applications are now closed.

Midwives and doulas are such a valuable resource to parents. We want to support their work by providing them with one gift box a month for a year. Two applicants will be chosen to win. We look forward hearing from you, and we hope you’ll tell your friends!

#BeKind21

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We believe kindness is a verb. This year we have joined Born This Way Foundation’s #BeKind21challenge by pledging to do one act of kindness a day for 21 days this September!

Whether you’re advocating, signing a petition, donating, or educating, you’re doing an act of kindness. Ready to make kindness a habit? Join @btwfoundation’s #BeKind21 challenge and do something kind for your mind, body, or community every day from September 1st to 21st! bornthisway.foundation/bekind21

We would love for you to join us! Find our calendar of kindness below, and follow along with us on Instagram and Facebook.

#BeKind21 Calendar ~Download