Inspired by the Finnish baby box scheme, two friends Jacqui Barhouch and Christy Smith are making sure that every baby – no matter where they’re born – starts off with all the essentials.
“We wanted to do something to give back, and had been looking for the right opportunity,” says Jacqui. “We spotted this article on the BBC about the Finnish baby box scheme and were inspired to do something similar here where the need is so great! We started chatting to health professionals and visited community clinics and put together our first Hatch bag. We made our own logo (an egg – very literal!) started an Instagram page and began fundraising towards the end of 2015. We delivered our first batch of bags to the Gugulethu MOU (Midwife Obstetric Unit) in May 2016 and we’ve been delivering Hatch bags to new moms in need ever since.
”Recently Hatch officially became a non-profit company as well as a team of three, with Carri Hanekom joining them in their work. “This is a pretty exciting time for us – our registration as a non-profit allows us to receive donations from corporates and other bigger organisations. In fact, we applied for and received our first ever project funding which has been a huge boost and allowed us to spend some time getting everything in order so that we can prepare to scale.”
Crammed full of happiness
The Hatch bags contain all the goodies that newborns and new moms need in the first few days, including clothing, hat and socks, a warm blanket, nappies, wipes, aqueous cream, cotton wool, baby soap and washcloth, as well as sanitary pads for mom, a soft toy and a baby book.
Lending a helping hand
“We believe that every child deserves an equal start in life, and that starts from the moment they’re born. New moms in Cape Town’s underserved communities face so many challenges, and we wanted to help them welcome new life by providing some of the newborn essentials,” says Jacqui.
“New mothers in more privileged communities that give birth in private hospitals often receive freebies from their medical aid, the hospital network, or baby care brands. The moms in the communities we serve however? They don’t get given anything to help. No extra nappies or maternity pads to take home… It’s a stark contrast.”
A lot of the donations that make Hatch happen come from private individuals and organisations that relate to what Jacqui and Christy are doing, and bags are distributed via maternity clinics – mostly the Gugulethu MOU. “We have recently partnered with community-based antenatal programme facilitators that serve the wider cape flats area and are always keen to help where we can with ad-hoc donations for example when there have been fires or floods – if we have bags and budget available, we’ll do what we can.”
Want to make a difference?
If you’re keen to raise funds or supply products for the Hatch bags, Jacqui suggests a few ways to get involved.
Collection drives: Get everyone at your school, office, sports club or any other gathering to donate products from our list (we can provide an information poster) -some people have even done a collection for Hatch at their birthday party or baby shower!
Monthly donations: Regular contributions are SO helpful for a small organisation like Hatch, just knowing that we have some money coming in every month is a great help and any amount really makes a difference.
Give a gift: If you’d like to donate in lieu of a gift for someone special, send us your details and POP and we’ll make up a personalised gift card. A fully packed Hatch bag is valued at R550 so this is a popular amount to give but again, even a smaller amount will still help cover a portion of a bag, we provide gift cards for donations of R100 or more.
Stock clearance: Some of our biggest donations have come from local businesses that have old stock to clear, especially baby clothes and toiletries. Divert your old stock from landfill and make sure it goes to someone who can really make use of it.
Get your business involved: Now that we’re official, we’d love to partner with companies that would like to support our work as part of their CSI programmes or SED budget.
