Jessica Seinfeld's Blog on Oprah

On her blog on Oprah.com, Baby Buggy Founder Jessica Seinfeld discusses Baby Buggy and child nutrition:

"...Almost seven years ago, I started a local charity in New York called Baby Buggy (a portion of the sales of Deceptively DeliciousSM goes to support it). Baby Buggy started from a simple idea: With a growing population of families and children without adequate baby equipment, there should be an easy way for perfectly good, but slightly used, equipment to be refurbished and reused instead of being thrown away. We got started with a warehouse and a few volunteers, and now Baby Buggy is an integral part of our city's social service network that has delivered well over 2 million essential items to families in need.

The problems we face in child nutrition are definitely more complicated, immense and critical. But my experience with Baby Buggy taught me that every small step can make an impact, and that small changes can create a momentum that can make a big difference. It taught me that thinking small and thinking big at the same time gets you where you want to go. I also learned that helping one family at a time also matters..." MORE

Nurse-Family Partnership

Baby Buggy began it's collaboration with the Nurse-Family Partnership in September of 2006.

The Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) is a nurse home visiting program, in which nurses work with their low-income, first-time mothers during their pregnancy and for the first two years of their child's life. The general goals of this public health program, run in New York City by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, are to improve pregnancy outcomes for the mothers; improve child health and development by helping parents provide more responsible and competent care for their child; and improve a mother's economic self-sufficiency by helping her develop a vision for her own future, plan future pregnancies, and continue her education and find work. The nurse visits her client every week or every other week, starting by the client's 28th week of pregnancy and finishing when the child turns two years old.

Baby Buggy has been instrumental in helping the NFP nurse home visitors implement their teaching with their clients. A major component of the NFP curriculum is safety, and the items Baby Buggy provides not only help reinforce these teachings but minimize potetially dangerous situations. The items Baby Buggy has donated have been a huge help to Nurse-Family Partnership families across New York City, as attested by many of the NFP nurses, by donating critical items that are costly but necessary in creating a safe environment for a child. Baby Buggy has reduced the financial burden on low-income families and the stress that accompanies that burden. A crib, a car seat, a high chair and a bathtub could easily cost NFP families $500 to $1,000 - money these families simply do not have. When a nurse teaches about safety measures, whether it is preventing SIDS or safely bathing the baby or feeding the baby, through Baby Buggy's support, nurses can provide many of the necessary tools to make sure the child will be safe when she leaves.

To date, Baby Buggy has delivered 82,320 items to 786 families and 842 children served by the Nurse-Family Partnership

If you are interested in supporting the Baby Buggy Nurse-Family Partnership program, please click here

Baby Buggy Delivers More Than 3000 Cribs To Needy New York City Families

Baby Buggy Delivers More Than 3000 Cribs To Needy New York City Families
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First Phase of “Project Safe Sleep” Completed

New York, NY (April 3, 2007) – Baby Buggy, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to delivering essential baby items to New York City families in need, announced today that it has completed the first phase of its Project Safe Sleep and delivered more than 3000 cribs and bassinets to New York City families.

In 2005, Baby Buggy founded Project Safe Sleep to combat the rising number of infant fatalities due to suffocation. Safe Sleep is a partnership between Baby Buggy and New York City Health and Hospitals Corp., the country’s largest municipal healthcare system. Project Safe Sleep delivers cribs and bassinets to new mothers through two city hospitals, Harlem Hospital Center and Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center in Brooklyn.

“We are delighted to be able to help families provide a safe sleeping place for their children,” said Claudia Fleming, executive director of Baby Buggy. “Too many infants get injured or even die due to improper sleeping places, and we are proud to be able to work with HHC to combat this. We are delighted at the outpouring of support from individuals and corporations who have contributed to the crib drive.”

Baby Buggy currently is starting Phase Two of Project Safe Sleep; this will focus on the program’s expansion to additional hospital sites in the Bronx and East Harlem. Phase Two also will place a greater emphasis on the social services delivered in conjunction with the cribs and bassinets.

Baby Buggy delivers essential items for infants and young children to thousands of families in need throughout New York City. Founded in 2001 by Jessica Seinfeld, Baby Buggy works with more than 80 social services organizations to distribute a wide range of new and gently used essentials, from cribs and strollers to clothing and diapers. Since its inception, Baby Buggy has donated nearly two million items, all of which are vetted for safety and utility. For more information, please visit www.babybuggy.org.

Letter from Jessica Seinfeld, Baby Buggy Founder and President of the Board

"Our primary goal at Baby Buggy is to ensure that all parents and families in the 5 boroughs of New York City have the means to provide clothing and gear for their infants and young children."

Friend,

In 2001, shortly after the birth of my daughter, Sascha, having slowly accumulated closets full of used – but very usable – baby clothing and equipment she no long needed, I had a moral dilemma; as the daughter of a social worker, throwing out perfectly good baby gear was unthinkable; and yet there was no easy way to get it to a family who could use it.

Thus, Baby Buggy was born.

That Fall, a small but dedicated team of friends and volunteers joined me in organizing a donation drive – urging family, friends and neighbors to send us their gently used baby equipment and clothing for distribution to families in need throughout New York´s five boroughs. Our outreach was limited and informal, maybe even naïve; the response, however, was overwhelming.

Six years and two more children of my own later, Baby Buggy has become a part of our City´s social fabric in a way I could never have imagined. Working with scores of social service partners, Baby Buggy has collected and distributed more than 2 million items of clothing and equipment to New York´s families through domestic violence and homeless shelters, parent programs and court child centers.

I continue to be humbled by the tireless commitment of our staff and volunteers and the generous response to our supporters and partners. Their hard work and dedication has had a profound impact:

• In partnership with the NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation, we have delivered over 3,000 safe sleeping places to families in need living in the Harlem, Bedford–Stuyvesant and Bushwick neighborhoods. With the success of the recent Bedtime Bash we will be able to bring the Project Safe Sleep initiative to The Bronx; the poorest urban county in America.
• Through the Department of Homeless Services´ Homelessness Prevention Program, we had added stability to the lives of over 1700 families struggling to keep their homes by providing donations to ensure they wouldn´t have to choose between paying rent and buying baby gear.
• In 2006 we began working with the nationally recognized Nurse Family Partnership sites in the five boroughs of NYC. This program pairs nurses with first time mothers living in poverty, to teach them good prenatal care and healthy parenting techniques.

Just as the conditions that lead a family into poverty persist, so does the ongoing need for our services. We never want to turn away a mother, child or family – we shouldn´t have to, because the items they need are all around us. They might be in your child´s room, still unused. Perhaps you are thinking of storing them. Or maybe you´re about to throw them away. Please don´t!

Instead, we ask that you support our important work by making a gift or donating new or gently used baby clothing and gear. Your generosity will directly support families and children who need it desperately.

Go to our donation area if you would like to contribute:

Make a Donation

With your help, we can and will continue to make a difference in the lives of the most vulnerable New Yorkers.

Thank you,

Jessica Seinfeld
Founder and President of the Board