When Emily Harry, Cat Long and Heather Leavitt created the nonprofit Baby Bundles, they wanted to give new mothers “a baby shower in a bag.” Their aim was to donate more than just a container of newborn clothes, toys and supplies to moms in need but an experience that others might take for granted.
“Anyone who has gone to a baby shower, it’s like the favorite thing you’ve ever done,” Emily says. “It’s so stinking cute. When you give to Baby Bundles, you’re helping give someone a baby shower."
Missing out on your own baby shower is a feeling those three women understand better than it might appear. They are mothers of seven children between them. But Harry, Long and Leavitt all suffered the loss of pregnancies and built bonds of friendship through grief and eventually mission.
“Heather and Cat were this incredible beam of hope no one else could provide,” Emily says. “If you haven’t walked that journey, you don’t know how tragically sad it is.”
Their get-togethers at Panera Bread shifted from offering moral support to getting to work. They decided to expand on an idea from a friend in Nashville who was delivering baskets of children’s goodies to a hospital.
They packed 25 bundles of baby clothing and items in Cat’s living room. It took a week. They distributed 25 bundles each quarter, 100 that first year. The first one went to Presbyterian Hospital, now Novant. Emily had spent seven weeks there bedridden, before delivering twin daughters a year to the day after her first son was due.
Now, they partner with 18 local agencies, and donate 4,000 bundles a year to women across Charlotte. September marks 15 years since they decided to turn sad memories into a lasting legacy. Each bundle comes with a tag bearing the names of their five lost children: Low, Catherine, Joseph, Sarah and Mary.
“Emily, Heather and I wanted to do something that was more positive,” Cat says. “We wanted to honor our children’s lives in a happy way.”
The bundles, worth $350 apiece, include blankets, bibs, toys, books and clothes for children from birth, now up to age 2. When they started in 2010, 95 percent of the items were gently used. Now, nearly 100 percent are brand new.
They welcome 3,000 volunteers each year to help pack bundles in a warehouse, including school, church and corporate groups, Girl Scout troops, Mahjong mom groups and more. They’ve stayed true to their goals of giving mothers what they want most while avoiding the logistical pitfalls of car seats, cribs, diapers and formula.
Emily said their goal is to keep growing. They fell 2,000 bundles short of what Charlotte moms needed this year. Ultimately, they would love to partner with a children’s clothing line like Carter’s or Gerber.
On Sept. 26, they’ll host their 15th annual fundraiser, Beans & Bundles, at 9:30 a.m. at Myers Park Presbyterian Church. They raised $14,000 at the first event in a board member’s living room. Last year, they raised $207,000.
Overall, they’ve delivered 20,000 bundles to expectant and new moms in town.
“We couldn't prevent what happened to us,” Emily says. “But we could help moms who needed a hand up in their life together with their new baby. The thought of clothing a baby for the first year of its life, and taking that stress off of a new fragile mom and making them feel like they have hope, that their community is behind them, is what we thought was the perfect legacy for the five children that we lost.”
Babybundlesnc.org
“When you give to Baby Bundles, you’re helping give someone a baby shower."