This Mother’s Day, Eleni Gerassis from Tiny Miracles wants to offer support to new mums in the Grace Centre for Newborn Intensive Care at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, as well as The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
To make this possible, Eleni is asking people from the Greek and wider community to donate any brand new items suitable for mums by Thursday, May 5. These will be included in gift bags which she will deliver to the hospital ahead of Mother’s Day.
To find out more about this initiative, The Greek Herald spoke with Eleni and this is what she had to say.
1.What is the initiative? Tell us a little bit about what you’re doing.
The initiative that I am organising is called: Mother’s Day NICU Initiative. I am organising gift bags for each NICU mum spending this special day alongside their critically ill newborn babies in the Grace Centre for Newborn Intensive Care at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead and The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Westmead Hospital.
For people who haven’t experienced spending time in a NICU, it is a time of intense emotions, a feeling of isolation, the fear of the unknown. It’s an extremely frightening experience for any parent or family to have to go through.
With everyone’s help, I am preparing 75 gift bags for both NICU’s. Thirty for The Grace Centre for Newborn Intensive Care at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead and 45 for The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Westmead Hospital.
Items are required by May 5 and will be packed and delivered by us on Saturday, May 7 just in time for Mother’s Day.
2. Tell us why you’re doing it.
We have experienced this. My little miracle was born on Mother’s Day nearly 14 years ago. It was May 2008, our daughter was born 10 weeks premature and extremely unwell. We were given a 10% chance of survival prior to her birth. To cut a long story short, Dimi was born on an unforgettable Mother’s Day with a 500 gram tumour in her chest. She had surgery at four days old.
This was only the beginning. Dimi couldn’t breathe on her own for several months, she required a feeding tube for the first nine months of her life and many other subsequent tests and medical assistance. She spent the first four months of her life in hospital, was discharged on Father’s Day and spent the next six years as an outpatient. Now she is a healthy and happy 13, nearly 14-year-old!
It was a promise we made to ourselves and our little Dimi that we would do everything possible to give back to this amazing cause that saves critically ill newborn babies’ lives daily. We will be eternally grateful to the Grace Centre for Newborn Intensive Care at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead for the lifesaving care our daughter received. This dedicated, professional team goes above and beyond their call of duty, not only caring for these critically ill newborn babies but also supporting the families during the most traumatic experience of their lives.
3. How can people get involved?
People can get involved by donating any of the following items: body lotions, perfumes, lip balms, magazines/novels, mugs, journals/pens slippers, mindfulness books/colouring books. Vouchers and any other brand-new items suitable for mums are welcome too.
All items must be brand new and unopened as they will be gifted. To accompany the gift bags we are also arranging a light lunch, some cakes, cookies and flowers for each mum. Currently seeking grazing platter, cookie and dessert donations.
For more information you can go to the Tiny Miracles page.
