This year marked the first year for our NICU Mom Brunch. We began planning the brunch earlier this year because we wanted to give back to NICU moms in a way that would allow them to get out and have fun with other mamas. Our goal was to host a Mother’s Day brunch for 15 Orlando area NICU moms both past and present. We put out a call to local area hospitals to help us spread the word in order to get moms to the event. We asked local businesses and big brands to sponsor the event.
Our First NICU Mom Brunch Was a Huge Success!
Brands came together in a major way to make this event successful. We set out with the intention to gift each mama with a survival kit filled with toiletries, snacks, and gift cards that would be useful to them throughout their NICU stay. The survival kits were a huge hit among the mamas.
What was in the kits?
Skip Hop Mainframe Wide Open Diaper Backpack
These diaper bags were graciously provided by Skip Hop for us to use as the survival kit bags. They were perfect to gift to the mamas and had more than enough room to fill with toiletries and supplies for the moms.
Skip Hop Tray Chic Dry & Store Pump Bag
In addition to the diaper backpacks, each mama walked away with a dry & store pump bag courtesy of Skip Hop.
Scholastic board books
Reading is a special activity when you have a baby in the NICU. We wanted to provide each family with a book that they could read to their baby. Scholastic was kind enough to provide us with copies of PEEK-A-BOO I LOVE YOU, WHOOO LOVES YOU? and BEECAUSE I LOVE YOU by our beloved Sandra Magsamen.
Blank notebooks
Notetaking is an essential part of any NICU stay. Including blank notebooks into the survival kits for the moms was a must. Our friends at Rifle Paper donated notebooks for the mamas.
Tumblers
We can’t say how thankful we are to Corkcicle for donating 15 tumblers for this event. We decided to seek donations for tumblers to include in the survival kits so the mamas could have something to use on a daily basis to fill with water. Staying hydrated is important especially for pumping moms.
Drinks and snacks
We included a variety of drinks and snacks into the survival kits for the event. Sparkling Ice flavored drinks and Pure Organics bars were just a few of the snacks in the kits for the moms.
A brush and hair ties
Goody donated brushes and hair ties for mamas to use in the NICU.
Gift cards
One of the struggles we hear from a lot of families is the financial strain that being in the NICU causes. We wanted to include various gift cards in the survival kits to help relieve some of the financial strain. Our local Whole Foods donated $25 gift cards to include in the kits for families to use in their stores. Foxtail Coffee, a locally owned coffee shop with multiple locations, donated gift cards for the moms as well.
Toiletries
Each survival kit was filled with natural non-scented deodorant courtesy of Earth Mama Organics, facial cleansing cloths from philosophy, full-sized CeraVe daily moisturizing lotion, and total hydration chapstick.
WubbaNubs
WubbaNubs hold a very special place in my family’s heart. Tristan’s absolute favorite thing was his baby giraffe WubbaNub. I wanted to incorporate something special into this event that I knew Tristan would love and the WubbaNubs were the way to do that. The folks at WubbaNub were beyond amazing and donated 15 WubbaNubs.
Moccasins
Every baby needs a pair of moccasins, right? The moccasins were an extra special addition to each survival kit as a gift for baby when they leave the NICU.
Ace Cafe Orlando was our host for brunch. None of the moms had ever been to this particular restaurant and it’s centrally located in Orlando so it was a perfect fit. The atmosphere was welcoming and calm which was exactly what we were looking for.
Thank you to all of our sponsors including Skip Hop, Foxtail Coffee, Rifle Paper Co, ChapStick, CeraVe Skincare, philosophy, Cherry Blow Dry Bar Orlando, Goody, Scholastic, Corkcicle, Whole Foods, Sweet n Swag, Earth Mama Organics, and Sparkling Ice who made this event memorable!
