Need clothes for your infant? This new library can help

TheSt. John's Baby Clothes Library began a few years ago,as a late-night dream of sleep-deprived new mother and pediatrician Heather Power, who was reading about a new library for baby clothes in the U.K.

Now, with the help of the St. John's Tool Library, volunteers at Memorial University's medical school, andthe sewing group at the St. Mark's Anglican Church, it's nearly a reality.

"I think the best part is seeing everybody come together, to work together anddo something great for our community and for the environment," Power said.

In the first few years of life, a baby goes through a lot of clothes, most of which areworn for only a month or two. The library aims tokeep the clothes kids grow out of, out of the landfills and in the drawers of other infants who may need them.

"I think people move to our province who have very little," she said. "We see families where their homes are splitting, where families are maybe fleeing poor home environments and leaving with nothing.I think that's a huge need there."

In her own medical practice, she said it's common to meet parents who are rationing medical supplies, or sacrificing their own health to pay for their kids' health needs.

"[I see] parents of children with Type 1 diabetes who are not eating themselves or eating very, very poor-quality food themselves because they need to feed their children with healthy food for the management of their chronic disease," she said.

In terms of the environment, Sarah Fitzgerald who is on the baby clothes library with Power cites some startling statistics about clothing waste.

"North Americans send 9.5 million tons of textile waste into our landfills," she said."So in any way we can reduce consumption or keep items out of the landfills, I think, is better for our community."

A lot of help to make it happen

The clothing library will operate out of the St. John's Tool Library, and volunteers from Memorial University's School of Medicine will be on hand to launder all the clothes.

Power said they're hoping to begin this fall, and they got a big push toward that finish line from the St. Mark's Anglican Church.

When the women in the church's sewinggroup heard about the library plan, they sewed more than 60 cloth bags all made from recycled fabric for the baby clothes to be stored in.

"And not only did they make all the bags for us, they hosted a little tea to present them to us and also had, independently, without our asking, started collecting baby clothes," Power said.

"It was very overwhelming to see such an outpouring of support and generosity and, really, love within the community," she said.

The sewing club is also holding a clothing drive for the library on Aug. 10, at the church from 9 a.m. until noon.

"It's a bit surreal and also a bit of disbelief that it's actually happening," Power said. "It's just really, really wonderful."

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