A letter from Frankie.
In February this year, we welcomed our first child, August to the world.
We were inundated with amazing support from our network but also from places we didn't expect, like the local council who sent out a maternal childcare nurse to check on us not once, but three times in the first two weeks of Auggie's life.
When Covid-19 hit, I was extremely grateful that we had made it through prior to all the social distancing policies. My heart went out to all mothers that followed me, that wouldn't be able to get the support that is typical of that time in their lives.
I had a chat with another friend about it, Lauren, who has also just had a baby. We started to think about how we could help support other new mothers in the crisis. We reached out to the Melbourne City Council and asked them what they thought.
They came back to us straight away, offering to help in the distribution of care packages to 100 new mothers in the area, who were not receiving the same face to face services we were so lucky to have.
We jumped on the opportunity. We rang around all our business friends, and asked who would like to donate to the packs. We specifically wanted Melbourne based businesses, whose products we loved either as a Mum, or as a human in general.
Charlies Cookies, Daily Blooms, Fluff Casual Cosmetics, Who Gives a Crap, b box, TOMS, Pana Chocolate, T2 and Bubba Organics all generously jumped on board to help us out.
We created 100 packs, with a combined value of over $13,000 this morning.
The Lord Mayor of Melbourne came down to help us pack them.
The City of Melbourne came down to help us deliver them.
Our hearts are feeling warm and full. It's a small thing, but to be able make someone's day a little brighter with the help of an amazing and supportive network of people is a privilege we don't take for granted through these wild times.
So to those 100 mothers, and all the other mums in the world, we wish you a very happy day on Sunday. We know your face to face support will come again (hopefully soon), but for now we all just want you to know, we're thinking of you too!