Happy Birthday to us! Today is Nestlings first birthday and it is very exciting. Last year at this time the news of our official delivery arrived and our work began.

We started giving out diapers in August last year and since then we have given away 28,392 diapers and 263 packs of wipes. That is a lot of dry bottoms and that makes us happy. It is an on going cycle that continues and we keep hearing request for more.

These numbers really prove that diaper need is a big issue. It is also one that
most people are still unaware of. With the awesome help of the people in the
community, who are aware of diaper need, we have received into Nestlings this past year 43,139 diapers and 370 packs of wipes. Way to go everyone!

Thank you so much to all of our supporters in the past year. We could not have helped all those babies and families in need without you and your support of our mission. Nestlings birthday wish is to have a bigger impact on diaper need in the next year and years to come. Here’s to happy babies everywhere!

If you would like to help us celebrate our birthday please consider holding a
diaper drive, participating in one of our fundraisers, donating packs of diapers into a drop box or make a cash donation. Thank you and blessings to you all.

April is the month of the young child and the Holland Junior Welfare League has proven their commitment to children in our area and Nestlings with a gift of a $250.00 grant reward.

We received an order this morning to deliver 1440 diapers to the Health Department so this grant will help to fulfill that need.

Thank you to the Holland Junior Welfare League for your support of Nestlings and our mission to provide diapers and wipes to babies in need. With your help we will be able to keep babies bottoms clean, dry and healthy.

See what the Holland Junior Welfare League is all about at http://www.hjwl.org/

Spring is just around the corner and so is Nestlings Spring Fashion Show. On Saturday, April 21st at 1:00 pm we will be hosting our first ever Fashion Show Fundraiser along with a Silent Auction.

We will be holding our fashion show at the Macatawa Bank on 8th Street and are partnering with some 8th Street Merchants. Items are being collected and donated for the Silent Auction that will also be held. Hors d’Oeuvres will be served during the event.

Nestlings is supporting quite a few agencies in the area and delivering about 2000 diapers per month to families and babies in need. Without your support of Nestlings and our events we could not help them. Ticket cost is $10.00 for an afternoon of fashion, food and fun so save the date and mark it on your calendar. We look forward to seeing you there and spread the word to all your fashion savy friends.

Now that you have your crisp new 2012 planners cracked open what fun things are you adding to it? Winter in West Michigan can be long if you don’t plan to get out and enjoy one of the many local events going on.

Thanks to Sarah’s Deals, a West Michigan deal blog, you have the opportunity to purchase discounted Griffins Hockey tickets and support Nestlings Diaper Bank at the same time.

Purchase tickets through the link below and $3 per ticket will be donated to Nestlings Diaper Bank which means you will be able to get out to enjoy a Griffins hockey game (at a discount!) and support a local nonprofit organization at the same time. (And while you’re watching the game you can have the added enjoyment of knowing that the $3 ticket donation helps to buy approximately 15 diapers!)

Purchase now here http://griffinshockey.com/promocode

Discount code is sarahsdeals

Ticket Prices: $11 upper seating, $15 lower seating

Valid for the Saturday, January 21 game. Doors open at 6:00pm.

Fun things going on at the game that night include:

• Fleece Hockey Helmet Giveway: The first 1,500 fans will receive a free fleece hockey helmet, courtesy of MetroPCS.
• ZOOperstars: Returning to Van Andel Arena for the second straight season, the ZOOperstars will entertain fans during both intermissions.
• Jersey Auction: Fans will be able to bid on patriotic Griffins jerseys, worn on Salute to Heroes Night (Dec. 3). The jerseys will be signed by the respective players and auctioned off at the Fifth Third Vault following the game to benefit the Griffins Youth Foundation.

Purchase your tickets now here using discount code sarahsdeals and then pass the info on to a friend (forward via email, post on your Facebook page). As with many social events, the more people the merrier! And in this case the more people who purchase tickets using this code the more funds will be raised so Nestlings can provide local infants and children with the basic necessity of a dry diaper.

Thanks! And will hope to see you at the game!

As we close out the year we often look ahead to the new year with anticipation of… filing taxes. ?!?!

While it is certainly not something most of us look forward to we can anticipate with certainty that we will soon have to file our taxes. And that consideration often has us adding up our deductible expenses. If you have diapered children you know what a large expense diapers are. Is the expense of diapering a child tax deductible? No. Unfortunately not.

But your donation to Nestlings IS fully tax deductible!

Diaper need is an ongoing problem and many babies need you. Your tax deductible donation will be helping to care for local infants and toddlers by providing the comfort of a dry diaper for children who are often left in wet or dirty diapers longer than necessary because the parent or caregiver cannot afford diapers.

Why help?

Babies born into low income families have been known to be left in dirty diapers for hours and in some cases days.  When left in wet and dirty diapers babies tend to cry more, causing stress on the caregivers and the child.  This increases the odds of neglect, physical abuse and causes undue stress to the baby during critical emotional and physical developmental years, possibly inhibiting brain growth, learning and social abilities in the future.

Your generosity buys…

$10.00 = 50 diapers

$20.00 = 100 diapers

$30.00 = 150 diapers

$40.00 = 200 diapers

$50.00 & up = 250 or more diapers

How many dry diapers will you help to provide for local babies? 

Please donate here online (look for the blue box in the top left). Prefer to mail a check?  Checks payable to  “Nestlings” can be mailed to 11926 Burning Bush Ct., Holland, MI  49424.  Donations are tax deductible as Nestlings is a 501c3 organization.

We thank you and appreciate any support.  Enjoy a happy and healthy new year with your family and loved ones.

Last month we celebrated 6 months of support – a big milestone for a new nonprofit organization. Today we wanted to share some other examples of the community effort that enables Nestlings to carryout our mission of diapering local infants and children.

Shortly after Thanksgiving we received a $32 cash donation from an office in the Holland area – the result of a Casual Friday collection. It was a wonderful surprise to be selected as their charity of choice.

Other generous donations included a $50 online donation that was made after the Babies Helping Babies Challenge was sent to Moms in Tow members, a group of social active moms in West Michigan. And just last week we were thrilled to receive a check for $80 from a group of PartyLite consultants who decided to collect donations for Nestlings at their monthly meeting.

It was encouraging too when we received an email from a corporation in Holland asking if their order service department could do a December diaper drive and collect financial donations to help Nestlings purchase diapers.

And the $5 donation we received when making a delivery to one of our social service partners was especially heartwarming. The donation was given to us by one of the women who does in-home visits to local mothers in need of additional support. The diapers she receives from Nestlings allows her to give hope and encouragement to moms in Ottawa County. She gets to see first-hand the difference something as basic as diapers can make in the health and well-being of local infants and children. She knows, too, that we will maximize that $5 to purchase as many diapers as possible at the best possible price.

Nestlings truly is a community effort and we are so thankful for the support we receive from individuals and businesses in Holland, and throughout Ottawa County, that enable us to continue supplying a basic need in a child’s early development – diapers.

We look forward to hearing from you or your business if you, too, would like to help us make a difference in our community by diapering children in need.

Tania, Pat, and Amy | Nestlings Diaper Bank