St. Vincent de Paul of Brown County, the Community Foundation, Prevent Child Abuse Indiana and other local organizations are presenting Brown County’s first community baby shower on Saturday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Brown County YMCA (105 Willow Street).
According to the Indiana Youth Institute’s 2024 data book, 18.1 percent of Brown County kids under the age of six live in poverty; 6.9 percent between the ages of six and 11 and 6.5 percent between the ages of 12 to 17 years, making the county 16th overall in the state for highest rates of children living in poverty.
The state average is 18.3 percent under the age of six, 16.2 percent between ages six and 11 and 14.2 percent between ages 12 and 17.
“The Foundation did award St. Vincent de Paul a $5,000 grant and we have other sources of funding and donations as well,” Brown County St. Vincent de Paul Volunteer Shirley Boardman said. “St. Vincent de Paul stepped up to be the umbrella organization as we are a 501(c)(3) organization and have the administrative capability to manage the funds and accountability. But, this would not be possible without a coalition of like-minded individuals working together.”
The event is free for parents, grandparents, foster parents and caregivers of children between the ages of zero and five years old. The ultimate goal of the event is to support infants, toddlers and children as well as build a community with them.
Blankets, portable playards, car seats, smoke alarms, baby wipes, toys and books are scheduled to be given away. Interested parties can register online at docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSffF3wI6U104SkIC47Nn3l1GD14al4mpBV6GDXHyFaPqdjaKQ/viewform or by sending an email to [email protected].
The first 50 registrants are set to receive a $20 Speedway fuel card.
They are also currently taking donations and volunteers, at the time of this writing.
“We desire advance registration so we can plan, and encourage that with the fuel card as an incentive although we will do our best to serve walk-ins though they may not get the same amount of bounty,” said Boardman. “We are still working too to get volunteers to help with setting up, hosting the event and tearing down.”
The shower will include a community resource fair and gift bag pickup with two windows of time to help keep the lines short. The first window is scheduled between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. with the second window being from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.
People can also choose to attend a free car seat installation inspection with a certified child passenger safety technician who will evaluate the way children are currently traveling in vehicles, if their seats have active recalls, proper fit and installation practices and the parent or caregiver is instructed on how to correctly install a child restraint.
Each appointment will be between 30 and 45 minutes and limited car seats will be available for those who need a proper fitting seat.
A safe sleeping class is also on the books for 2:30 p.m. and free to attend. People will learn how to create a safe sleeping environment for their infants. A limited supply of pack and play cribs may also be available.
“Our greatest challenge remains to have at least one or more local individuals who are car seat certified who are in Brown County but we have learned that this may be beyond our reach,” said Boardman. “To obtain the certification requires a commitment to the training, performing hours of service and then recertification. All is not lost, however, as one of our planning committee members, Susi French, from IU Health/Nursing Family Partnership, took the course, obtained this certification and is already one of our community partners who serves Brown County.”
More information on the 2024 Indiana Kids Count Data Book can be found on the Indiana Youth Institute’s website at iyi.org/resources/indiana-kids-count-data-book/.
