COMMUNITY BABY SHOWER
On Tuesday, April 8th,
2014, the Bucyrus Public Library held its second annual Community Baby
Shower. The month of April was decided
on, since it is the Month of the Young Child, so it was the perfect fit! This is one of two Community Baby Showers
that are held in the county. Galion
holds a similar event every August, and BPL has had a presence there.
The event was held from 6:00-8:00
p.m. in the cafeteria area of Bucyrus Community Hospital. This was a change from last year, when the
event was held at the library. The whole
cafeteria area was available for us to use.
This event targeted first-time parents, parents-to-be, and families who
are involved in programs such as WIC, GRADS, etc.
27 agencies serving families and children
were contacted to participate. Ten
responded and sent representatives:
Crawford County WIC, OHCAC Head Start, Little Stars Daycare/Preschool,
Voice of Hope Pregnancy Center, Dr. Ryan Hohman, Birth Place @ Galion Community
Hospital, YWCA Northwest Ohio Child Care Resource and Referral, CareStar, Avita
Pediatric Therapy Center, and Crawford County Help Me Grow. Of all the agencies who did not respond, only
Turning Point sent a message that they would not be able to attend due to
staffing issues.
The event was advertised through
Crawford County WIC (who sent out 100 invites) through Jane Knight, who
administers the GRADS program at Pioneer Joint Vocational School, and in-house
PR at the library.
Prior to the event, we asked for RSVPs. I have 24 initial phone calls, and of those
24, 17 attended. The final total for
attendance was 28 mommies-to-be/new moms, and with each of them bringing at
least one person with them (husband, boyfriend, mom, friend), that pushed the
attendance up to between 55-60 people. Last
year, we had 14 attend.
Upon arrival, each attendee received
a flier that had all of the attending agencies listed with their contact
information and a “scavenger hunt”-type activity. Attending agencies were placed at tables
around the perimeter of the cafeteria.
Avita Health System Food Service provided refreshments for the
evening. Cupcakes, cookies, bagged
chips, fruit juices and water were available.
Barbara Scott, Children’s Librarian
at BPL welcomed everyone and introduced Deana Grube, Lactation Consultant at
Galion Community Hospital, who spoke on the importance of skin-to-skin contact
immediately after birth, as well as later in baby’s life.
Once Deana finished her
presentation, attendees were invited to participate in the “scavenger
hunt”. This consisted of a page and a
half sheet listing the various agencies represented with a question that attendees
had to ask and get the answer to. This
provided time for one-on-one conversation with each of the families. Once they had finished with this, they were
free to enjoy the refreshments provided.
About 7:30 p.m., drawings for door
prizes were held. There was a wonderful
variety of items to choose from, ranging from a basket of board books and items
from the library to filled diaper bags to a large activity center that could be
placed over a baby lying on the floor.
All of the agencies were well
pleased with the turnout and can be most likely be counted on to participate in
next year’s event.
LESSONS LEARNED FOR NEXT YEAR:
·
Contact
Wal-mart about possible donation of a stroller for a grand prize.
·
Advertise
the event more broadly. This year and
last, it was only advertised through WIC, GRADS, and in-house at the library.
·
Contact
Galion and Crestline libraries to see if they wish to send information or have
a presence at the event.
·
Research
why some agencies/organizations do not respond to our requests to have a
presence. Specifically ones like La
Leche League, MOPS, pediatric dentists (I have two that I have contacted the past
two years), other preschools.
·
Run
the program from 6:00-7:30 p.m. if the same number of agencies are
represented. If the number increases,
then the time could be stretched to 8 p.m.
