Pass It On, Baby! was founded with the underlying goal to add a personalized touch to donating used children’s clothes. The same clothes that we had dressed up our own children in with pride, would have a second life with another child. Sometimes as I’m packing up the boxes of my kiddos clothes, I take a moment and relive the memory of buying the special outfit or remembering a moment where one of my own kiddos was wearing the outfit I am folding up to pass along. In that moment, there is this feeling of solidarity that sweeps over me between myself and the mother who will receive the box. We’re doing it together…. we’re helping our neighbors along the path…. we’re influencing children by acts of kindness. It’s all so very personal to me….
Soooo - as you can imagine, when someone throws out an idea to Heather and me on how they would like to personalize the box or the donation they are sending, we are all ears. We’ve had children box up their own clothes for other children and insert a card that they drew of themselves wearing the clothes and another picture of their new “friend” wearing the clothes. We’ve had families pray over the boxes, include personalized notes, cards, you name it. We love the stories, they touch us, they touch the recipients and they keep us all moving in the right direction. And quite frankly, we love that people take our message and make it their own.
Recently, we received a note from a woman who had received two new outfits as a gift for her daughter from Israel. By the time they had arrived, they were too small for her daughter. So, she had heard about us and was interested in the idea. But, the outfits that she wanted to give were very personal to her – they were from her Holy Land. And so, she asked Heather and me if we would post about these outfits and make sure that they were given to someone who cared about their origin and who felt that the fact that they were from such a sacred place made them as special. We love that they are personal to her – in a way, that’s what makes PIOB so special. (And if you are someone who has a baby girl wearing 6-12M that feels drawn to these outfits, drop us a line!!)
There is lots of room in our little community for your thoughts and opinions. We listen and take a lot of the advice you give to us. And that’s another reason why this little community is so special – we are building it together.
A case in point – our new donation button. Heather and I had decided at the very beginning of this endeavor NOT to accept donations. We didn’t want anyone to question our motivations or what was in it for us. The truth is, the kindness that we put in to the world and the fact that we are making someone’s journey a little easier, is enough. This is a huge source of pride and joy for us and by doing this ourselves, it certainly makes it easier to raise children who believe strongly in giving back and doing their fair share to lend a hand. But at the same time, we’ve had many experiences where we receive notes letting us know that someone has clothes that they are willing to donate, but don’t currently have the funds needed to send the box. It has continually put us in a tough predicament. We offer to pay for the boxes where we can, but we are also donating ourselves and paying a lot of the behind the scenes stuff to keep PIOB going. So, after hearing this suggestion come up several times, we decided to give the idea a chance. We aren’t asking for money, but if someone feels called to help and doesn’t have clothes to donate, they are now able to pay for the shipping on a box. If you feel called to help and don’t want your money going to shipping, but would rather pay for a pair of pjs or socks for a family – drop us a line. We take your suggestions to heart, remember? =)
Dear friends, please keep spreading our message. We constantly need to reach new donors in order to help those that need it. Your way of being able to help may not come in the shape of clothes, or even shipping costs – it may come in the form of spreading our message and reaching someone who really needed to hear about the help we can offer at that moment in their lives. After all, we don’t believe in coincidences….*wink*
In love and kindness,
Email Elizabeth & Heather
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