On Tuesday, March 21st, 2017 nurses of the St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) collaborated with Rotarians of the Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle to officially launch the baby bags in their “Welcome Baby” project.
The launch included a presentation by Rotarian Denise Antrobus, Rotarian Anjali Manek, and Nurse St. Cyr of the OB/GYN ward, who started the “Welcome Baby” initiative to support new mothers in need, as part of her objectives for this year. The presentation informed the invited guests about the project in detail, and also allowed both organizations to present a “Welcome Baby” bag to the first official new mom in the project. This particular bag that the new mom received, was sponsored by Mid Isle President Veronica Jansen-Webster, Domino’s Pizza, Bebe n’ Kids, Penny’s Department Store and Divico.
A District Grant was received through ‘The Rotary Foundation’, which is the charitable arm of Rotary International, to offset the startup costs of this project. Through this grant and the valued contributions by the generous sponsors mentioned the additional “Welcome Baby” bags are made possible. The bags are filled with the all the essentials a new mom will need for the new bundle of joy.
Projects like these highlight amazing ways the public can collaborate with our local hospital to support the community. “Welcome Baby” represents a way of giving back to the community for both organizations. For Nurse St. Cyr the objective was to promote the well-being of patients and through this joint effort she hopes to be able to offer positive experiences to the new moms. However, the bags will not be available to every mother. The baby bags are intended for those who need it the most. The chosen new mothers will receive a bag at the discretion of the nurses who work closely with them, and who have gotten to understand their individual stories. The “Welcome Baby” project is still in its initial stages, and the hope is for other’s within the community to join in the great effort of the concerning organizations.
For the Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle being part of the official launch was an ideal opening to their theme for the month of April, which will be ‘Maternal and Child’ month for the club. The Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle meets Tuesday at 7pm at Mary’s Boone in Simpson Bay. For more information please contact rotarysxm.mi@gmail.com or visit our face book page Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle.