Why Moms in Our Pregnancy & Parenting Support Program Ask for Laundry Detergent for Christmas

A package of toilet paper. A bottle of Tide. A broom.

These are things that you’d pick up on your regular trip to Target, or, most likely, already have in your cabinet or closet, right? If someone gave you a piece of paper and asked you to write down what you’d like for Christmas, would those items be on your list?

For J, a young mom in our Pregnancy & Parenting Support Program last year, this is was her Christmas list. J was parenting young children, and when prompted to add items to her list, knowing that they would be fulfilled by a donor, she said that all she wanted was cleaning supplies. J had listed a few small toys and clothing items for her kids, but only asked for toilet paper, paper towels, and laundry detergent for herself.

These items, things that J would use to care for her family and her home, are things that she can’t easily afford. The average mom in our Pregnancy & Parenting Support Program lives on an income about 200% below the federal poverty line. Many moms qualify for financial assistance and food stamps, but struggle to supply their homes with these essential items.

For moms trying to make ends meet as well as make Christmas a fun and joyful time for their kids, supplying toilet paper and cleaning supplies are one small thing we can do to help take away a bit of stress from our moms. Knowing how much of a blessing these unexpected items can be for our moms, we decided to do things a bit differently this Christmas.

Because our program had expanded from 45 moms in 2017 to 120 moms in 2018, we had a big goal to provide each mom with a basket of items. We put out a huge ask to our donors and we were absolutely overwhelmed with how much our donors worked to help us care for our young moms and their families.

The few weeks before Christmas, we received donation after donation of baskets, cleaning supplies, paper towels, toilet paper, kitchen utensils, soap, shampoo, brooms, and maps. We were amazed by how much our donors went out of their way to provide these items for our moms. We are so thankful for everything our donors, volunteers, and friends have done to help our moms take away this stress at Christmastime!