Newborns in Need selected as Continental Subaru’s 2016 Share the Love Hometown Charity
January 4th, 2017
In carrying on the tradition of ‘giving back’ to Anchorage communities, Continental Subaru has selected the Alaska chapter of Newborns In Need as our 2016 Hometown Charity during this year’s Subaru Share the Love Event.
Nationally, Newborns In Need is an organization that is mobilized across the United States to offer baby items to those families who need help. Newborns In Need believes that communities can and will help each other if given the vehicle to do so. Whether crafted with love by the hands of a volunteer or donated by others who understand we need to take care of each other, Newborns In Need has positioned itself as the first response for the baby in crisis.
With a volunteer staff of only six active volunteers, the Alaska Chapter of Newborns in Need is an organization that offers baby items to those families who have been identified as needing a helping hand in what can be a very stress-filled time in their lives. Each month, the volunteers provide 30 filled diaper bags (360 bags a year) that are then distributed throughout various family practices and providers in Anchorage as well as Bethel – an outlying bush village 400 miles east of Anchorage and only accessible by plane.
Each diaper bag is filled with formula, diapers, wipes, clothing, quilts, infant caps/blankets/booties and other baby essential items valued at approximately $110. Many of these items are hand-made by the volunteers of Newborns in Need.
“Last year, our total operating budget was just $595. Yet every month received the right amount of donated items for the bags needed. If we fall short on something, our volunteers donate items out of their own pocket to make sure that diaper bags are filled and available for delivery to those who are in need,” says Kim Schlimgen, vice president of this small Alaskan charity and Continental Subaru’s Customer Relations Manager. “Being chosen as Continental Subaru’s Share the Love hometown charity this year is going to make such a huge impact on our entire community. With the donations we will receive from the Subaru Share the Love Event, we will be able to provide hundreds of filled diaper bags and increase our outreach for those families in need for years to come.”
Continental Subaru chose Newborns in Need during a company-wide nomination process.
“We have many of our team members that are involved in various non-profit charities within Anchorage. The entire team at Continental Subaru had a say of what charity to choose this year, and Kim’s charity ‘won’. We love our work family and we support and encourage each other to volunteer in our community”, says Derek Adolf – Principal Owner.