“During those days, handy snacks and beverages were my wife's lifesavers, entertaining magazines and TV shows were her new best friends, putting on lip gloss and hand cream felt like heaven, and our doula sessions seemed like visits from Mary Poppins,” said Raquedan.
It was through those small luxuries that the pair believes that their marriage, and their sanity, stayed intact. After the hard months were over, and they caught up on their sleep, the pair realized that all mothers needed that little bit of extra; that all mothers could benefit from that support.
They asked themselves a question “How can we help nurture mothers taking care of newborns?”
So, the Pink Basket Project was born.
Through the project, the pair will be giving support to mother's with newborns. Each will get a care package, with snacks, magazines, lip balm, bottled beverages, hand cream, a coffee shop gift card and hand sanitizer, and a four hour session with a certified doula. The doula will provide support to the mother, give information and help with infant care and light chores.
Their goal of $4000 will distribute 25 care packages between January and February 2015. Due to personnel constraints, all of the recipients will be in the Toronto area. However, they hope, with more funding, to be able to expand.
“Given that we are only two-person team with no car and we have full-time jobs, we plan to focus on our own city (Toronto). If blessed with more funds for future iterations, we hopefully will be able to widen our reach.”
All the mothers will be chosen based on need through the Central Toronto Community Health Centre – a charity which offers perinatal programs for women facing challenging situations, like hunger during pregnancy, prior premature births or being a newcomer to Canada.
The Pink Basket Project is raising the funds on the Indiegogo crowdfunding website (www.indiegogo.com/projects/let-s-touch-the-lives-of-mothe...). Like many of the campaigns on that website, there is a variety of “perks” that donors can receive, ranging from “internet gratitude” to a limited edition onesie to being a named Sponsor.
“Postpartum support has been cited as a key factor in helping mothers with improving their maternal parenting, mental health, quality of life, and physical health,” Raquedan said. “With your help, we can touch the lives of 25 mothers this winter in perhaps the most precarious stage of motherhood.”
Through the Pink Basket Project, Ong and Raquedan are going to help moms in what looks like a small way, but it's one that can make all the difference.