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Community Foundation Literacy Consortium to Distribute Welcome Baby Bags NEW BEDFORD – New Bedford’s Early Literacy Consortium, a project of the Community Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts (CFSEMA), recently began distributing WELCOME BAGS to every baby born at St. Luke’s Hospital. Funded by the Acushnet Foundation Fund of the Community Foundation, the Consortium is an organization of area early literacy and care providers including pediatricians and St. Luke’s Hospital, the New Bedford Public Library, Buttonwood Park Zoo, the School Department and many other community agencies. Foster Grandparent volunteers assist in getting the bags into the hands of new mothers and fathers upon admission to the maternity unit. Additional volunteers are needed for this project. The Welcome Bags contain board books, library card application forms, a free one-year family zoo membership, and information on literacy and healthcare resources for the city’s youngest residents and their parents, according to Jean Fox, spokesperson for the Early Literacy Consortium. The Welcome Bags will introduce new parents to the Reach Out and Read Program. Through Reach Out and Read, children will receive a book at each and every well-child visit with their pediatrician starting at six months through 5 years of age. The Early Literacy Consortium members determined that the Welcome Bags would be a simple way to inform area families about the many excellent resources available for young families and, most especially, to help city families prepare their children for success in school. “We are very pleased to have worked out a successful arrangement with St. Luke’s to distribute the bags to families,” Ms. Fox said. “Many thanks to Lucille Force, RN, MSN, Director of Women and Children’s Health at St. Luke’s, for her enthusiasm and support of the Welcome Bag program..” “I am absolutely thrilled about helping with the literacy effort in New Bedford,” Ms. Force said. “The Welcome Bags are an excellent idea, and we will do all we can to support the Early Literacy Consortium in this endeavor. We agree that babies are ready to learn from the start, and we want to make sure that parents have the tools they need to begin ‘teaching’ their children. “Many mothers and fathers automatically talk and sing to their babies, and play little games,” Ms. Force added. “They may not know that what they are doing is providing essential learning experiences for their children. And they would benefit from finding out what else they could do on a daily basis to help develop the young brain.” In addition to the grant, the New Bedford Early Literacy Consortium has received donations for the Welcome Bags from United Way of Greater New Bedford, Staples, and the Reach Out and Read Program. For more information on the Welcome Bags, or for ways in which you might support this ongoing initiative either as a volunteer or a contributor, contact CFSEMA at 508-996-8253 ext. 210 or Jean Fox at 508-979-1504 ext. 17. 227 Union Street, Suite 206, New Bedford, MA 02740-5946 PH 508.979.1504 • FAX 508.979.5680 E-mail: Webmaster@gnbwib.org |