In Kind Boxes

Because everyone deserves to thrive after birth

Earth Day Oregon

Earth Day Oregon Fundraiser

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We’re so excited to be participating in this state wide fundraiser for a third time.

We are actively fundraising to be able to move into our very own space!

Why? Because we want to be able to have our local friends come and volunteer and pack gift boxes with us. And, we would love more storage space. We bulk order our supplies, and with more space we can order larger quantities at a time at more reduced rates.

We love participating in Earth Day Oregon because it highlights so many local nonprofits, while bringing the community together. This event is also great because it focuses on the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

At In Kind Boxes, we focus on:

  • Promoting good health and well being
  • Reducing inequalities
  • Partnerships for the goals

Maternal health, and the health of our children is directly impacted by our environment. We look forward to sharing more about this event with you via Instagram, and email.

We also want to say thank you to the following local businesses for supporting us during the event:

Business partners will be helping us fundraise by helping us shine a light on our work, and amplifying the message of Earth Day. Stay tuned for local events that you can participate in, in support of In Kind Boxes.

Local Events to watch for:

  • Cupcake Fundraiser at The Hungry Hero in Old Town Sherwood on April 22. Proceeds from the sale of the special “Earth Day” cupcake will be donated to In Kind Boxes.
  • Dine out for a cause at Fat Milos Family Kitchen in Old Town Sherwood. The dinner takes place on May 1, and includes a 5 course meal made from locally sourced, high quality ingredients. Get your tickets here.

Thank you for supporting our work, and donating to In Kind Boxes!

We couldn’t do what we do without you.

~Maria Berglund, In Kind Boxes Founder

February Update

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  • Total impact this month: 49 boxes donated
  • Total impact to date: 1,249 boxes donated

We donate an average of 50 postpartum boxes a month, depending on the need of our local partners. Locally, we provided gift boxes to the Domestic Violence Resource Center and the Mother and Child Education Center.

For the second year in a row we helped our local school district celebrate staff appreciation week. We provided gift boxes to expecting and newly postpartum staff. We are so grateful for teachers, and how hard they work to make school special.

Outside of Oregon, boxes are shipped monthly through the following partnerships:

Activity:

Mapel Boutique hosted a Shop For a Cause fundraiser for us on February 10! 20% of full priced sales were donated back to In Kind. We’re grateful to everyone who shopped during the event.

Our Mamas Making an Impact series continued on Instagram. We met with Jenn Wirth from @momsmaternal health. She opened up and shared with us about her own journey with postpartum mental health. Jenn states the importance of asking for help when you need it. She also goes into a lot of detail about postpartum mood disorders. Click here to watch!

For Black History Month, we highlighted Black moms and women in history who made a positive impact on the world through reels on Instagram. We shared about Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler, Dr. Mayme Clayton, and Katherine Johnson. Find @inkindboxes on Instagram to learn more about these amazing women in Black history.

Upcoming:

We’re looking forward to participating in the Earth Day Oregon statewide fundraiser in April. We are excited to have 2 of our 3 partners confirmed- The Hungry Hero Dessert Co, and Fat Milo’s Family Kitchen. Oregon based businesses, we need your help! We need one more partner with us for this event. If you can help us, send an email to: info@inkindboxes.org

Thank you!

We couldn’t do what we do without you. Thank you for showing up for moms in need.

January Update

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We started off the New Year with a bang, having our partnership with the Washington County District Attorney’s office featured in the Sherwood Gazette! Click the link to read the story, or go to the “Media Mentions” section of our website to find out when we’ve made the news!

We have big plans for 2022:

  • Move into our own space (increased storage, and capability to have volunteers come and help pack boxes).
  • Get Sponsorships and grants (to help cover costs for our new space, and donation of even MORE postpartum boxes to moms in need this year).
  • More press coverage (shining a light on our work increases the support we receive to then help more moms in need).

If you know of someone who could help us reach these goals, please reach out! We couldn’t do what we do without your support.

Upcoming fundraiser

We are looking forward to participating in the statewide fundraiser Earth Day Oregon again this year. We had our first meeting with the EDO Director this month. We’re excited to share more about what we do, and how it relates to Earth Day, and the United Nations’ 17 sustainable development goals.

If you are an Oregon based business, who is interested in partnering with us for the event, please reach out. We need 3 business partners is order to qualify for the event.

Donations

We donated 49 postpartum boxes in January to moms in need all across the United States including: 20 donated to the Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center Women’s Clinic, 19 donated to NICU families in need through the Colette Louise Tisdahl Foundation, 5 to refugee families in California through Miry’s List, and 5 to refugee families in New York through New Neighbors Partnership.

If you would like to provide postpartum essentials to a mom in need, please donate today. We would love to meet or beat our goal of donating 700 boxes this year!

What else we’ve been up to:

In continuation with our “Mamas Making an Impact” Instagram Live series, we had on Miry’s List Founder, Miry Whitehill. Miry shared about how she got started with her nonprofit work supporting refugee families in California, and about her new book set to come out in March titled: “Our World is a Family”.

Maria also had the pleasure of chatting with Dr. Carlene Link. They had an honest discussion of what it can be like for postpartum moms to return to the workplace. Carlene explains why she decided to make some changes in her career as a result of her own experience. And, why she started a business to help others do the same. Go to our Instagram page to watch!

Stay connected with us on Instagram (@inkindboxes) where we share all about postpartum, our work, and more. We’re grateful to have an amazing community of support over there.

Thank you

As each new year passes, we strive to help more and more families. The need for our boxes is great. Thank for donating to In Kind Boxes, and showing moms in need the love and support they deserve. We couldn’t do what we do without you.

Special thanks to Juna for offering 1 year free membership to their app- “the only app you need for motherhood”. 100 donated gift boxes have special inserts which include a code for moms to login to the app for free.

April Update

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This month had many highlights for us. One of the main events for the month was Earth Day Oregon. Earth Day Oregon is a fundraising event for Oregon nonprofits. In Kind’s Sustainable Development Goals are at the heart of our mission. Our two main goals are:

  • Good Health and Well-being
  • Reduced Inequalities

Earth Day Oregon is a way for us to highlight our third goal, which is partnerships for the goals. We were very lucky to have three amazing local businesses step up and support In Kind Boxes this year. We are thankful to Urban NW Homes, Elephant’s Delicatessen, and A to Z Wineworks as our business partners. These businesses brought awareness to our mission on Earth Day via a social media blast, and we are so grateful for their support.

Leading up to Earth Day, we were given the opportunity to be featured on a morning news segment with Jenny Hannsson, and Emily Burris on KOIN AM Extra. Maria was on Live news on April 20th, with A to Z’s Sam Tannahill to discuss why our core values as businesses make a great match for the event. Please click here to watch.

On Earth Day, Rex Hill donated 10% of their online and tasting room sales to In Kind Boxes! Stay tuned to see how much they raised. Again, we are so grateful to our business partners. We know this past year has been tough for businesses, and the fact that they said yes to us, and wanted to support our mission to help moms means a lot.

You have been supporting us in your own way as well. Thank you to friends of In Kind Boxes who hold fundraisers for us! We see your Facebook birthday fundraisers, and it makes our hearts feel so full that you choose In Kind to support. Nike staff, thank you for donating through the Benevity portal. Nike is matching donations made to nonprofits through there, and your support means so much!

If you didn’t know, donations make up the largest part of our funding. Without your donations, we wouldn’t have been able to donate the nearly 200 gift boxes we have in 2021. Every amount, no matter the size, is helpful. We use those funds to purchase the products we fill our boxes with.

Speaking of donations, we were able to send gift boxes to moms in need across the United States because of our Nationwide Gift Box Donation Program. We supported Jace’s Journey, Bottoms Up Diaper Bank in Alabama, and BeLoved Black Birth Centering in California.

Something fun we started on Instagram in April is our IG Live series called “Mamas Making an Impact”. We are using it as a way to build community, and share stories of postpartum to help moms feel less alone in their journey. We are also highlighting women in business who are spreading kindness through their work and giving back. If you don’t follow us on Instagram please do! It’s the best way to stay up to date with what we’re doing.

I couldn’t do what I do without your support. Thank you!

~Maria

March Update

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In March we donated our 100th gift box! One gift box donation delivery day that contributed to that was to the Ronald McDonald House. We delivered 20 gift boxes that day. Those gift boxes are to have on hand for mamas who happen to arrive without their postpartum essentials. We’re happy to be able to provide those to mamas, and be part of the support they receive while at RMHC.

This month we were very grateful to collaborate with the mom owned business Boy Meets Girl USA. Boy Meets Girl USA is a purposeful, edgy, and young streetwear brand that loves giving back. They generously donated Muscle Tanks for us to include in gift boxes. Stacy Igel, their founder, has supported many worthy causes and organizations making a difference in the world, and we’re so thankful she chose us to support. 

Boy Meets Girl Muscle Tanks have been added as an optional add-on item for gift boxes. Quantities are limited, so get yours while you can! These muscle tanks are not only stylish, but also very comfortable, and great for summer. We posted a reel with some easy ways to breastfeed baby, while wearing your tank. 

On March 17th we had something very exciting happen. We were featured on NBC New York Live’s “Female Founded Brands to Check Out”, by Joelle Garguilo!!! Joelle is an awesome woman who is always highlighting small businesses and lifting others through her work. We’re so thankful to her for including us in this amazing lineup!

Other fun things that happened for us this month were hosting two special giveaways. One was a collaboration for mamas, with another mom owned business, Baby Leaf Covers. If you haven’t heard of them, please go and check out their page. Baby Leaf Covers are super versatile and can be used 6 ways, and they’re also very cute, and soft. The other giveaway we did was in honor of World Doula Week. Doulas are such an amazing resource for families. We wanted to thank them for all of their hard work, and offer 3 doulas gift boxes for them to pass along to the families they support.

I’ve also enjoyed spending some time on Clubhouse. I recently created a club called Moms Supporting Moms there, where I am hoping to have rooms that moms use as a safe space to share and connect. If you’re on Clubhouse come and find me! There are so many interesting rooms to be part of. One morning I was even invited to come and share In Kind’s story in a room about kindness. It’s so fun to be able to connect with people from all over through that platform. If you have a chance, it’s worth checking out!

Two final highlights in March were in regards to funding. OnPoint Community Credit Union donated $1000 to In Kind Boxes!!! This will go a long way towards our next big donation delivery day to Virginia Garcia. Second, we received confirmation that our Community Enhancement Program application through the City of Sherwood was approved for a $1000!!! We will be receiving those funds in July, and they will be used towards the gift boxes we donate to the Sherwood Family Resource Center. We’re grateful to the city for approving this for us again this year.

Next month we have lots to look forward to with Earth Day Oregon coming up. We look forward to sharing about our business partners for the event: A to Z Wineworks, Urban Homes NW, and Elephant’s Deli, and amplifying the message of Earth Day together.

~Maria