This week, Team Gembridge spent a day volunteering at Our Village – formerly St Kilda Mums, Geelong Mums and Eureka Mums. For anyone unfamiliar, Our Village collects and then rehomes items for mums, babies and children that are donated. These items are checked, cleaned, sorted, organised, packed, and more… making the need for volunteers a great one.
Gembridge was more than happy to lend a hand (or 14!) to help Our Village in their vision of “Share more. Waste less. Every child thrives.”
Here are three reflections from the team about the day of volunteering…
L to R: Lauren, Jenni and Michelle cleaning prams
Lauren’s Reflection
Wednesday, I had the pleasure of joining my colleagues on a volunteering day at Our Village.
On first impressions, I was incredibly impressed by the size and scale of operations. It was fantastic to see firsthand the incredible team of staff and volunteers all doing their parts in preparing essential items for vulnerable babies, children and families. We were told that there has been a 30% increase in requests for their services, with huge waitlists, especially on big ticket items like prams and cribs. Hearing some of those statistics really drives home just how important and impactful the work is that Our Village does.
Lauren proudly displays a finished clothing pack
Our day was split across two of the workstations. First up, I was on the team cleaning prams. We took great care to clean all the nooks and crannies, knowing that for some families, this might be their only mode of transport in taking their child(ren) out to medical appointments, shopping, and any other occasion.
Then our afternoon was spent creating beautiful packs that contain an array of clothing and accessories to support kids across all seasons and occasions. We were all delighted in selecting things we think the kids will love, including an extra special outfit or two.
Thanks again to Our Village for hosting us!
Dawn’s Reflection
What a privilege to be able to spend the day and lend a hand with Team Gembridge, Lei and Heather (from Our Village), putting cleaned car seats and prams back together to be repurposed and doing up clothing packs to go out to kids. My heart grew 2-fold seeing first-hand the wonderful work Our Village do for families in need.
L to R: Dawn, Malu and Jenni with finished clothing packs to go to young boys and girls.
Jenny’s Reflection
Our Village leaders Heather and Lei - they were brilliant!
What a pleasure to help out for the day. Our lovely leaders, Lei and Heather, helped and encouraged us every step of the way.
For the morning, our activities included cleaning prams, reassembling car seats after the padding and covers had been washed, reassembling then packing breastfeeding cushions after they had been washed, and sorting through a bin of newly-donated clothing.
Our afternoon consisted of organising and packing bags for children – one group packed for 1-2 year old boys, my group for 3-4 year old girls. The whole day was great, but I really enjoyed this part. I had a picture of this little girl in my head as I selected items, just hoping she loved the shorts, and the Frozen top, the sparkly dress, and the hair ties. This was just so special, and as mum to two girls myself, it was touching to find out our packs could be in a family’s hands in a matter of days – truly amazing.
L to R: Dawn and Jenny working on a car seat
What surprised me (in the best possible way) was:
Our Village partner with social services and MCH nurses who identify needs and collect the necessary items from the warehouse to then distribute to families.
They reduce waste of all sorts as much as possible, including the recycling of garments that are not suitable to pass on.
This place was so busy! We saw people dropping off supplies for much of the day (please note these were previously scheduled appointments).
There were so many volunteers, and they were all so happy and joyful to be around.
NOT ONE of us was immune to holding up something cute so that all of us could say, “Awwwwww!” together.
Malu and Troy putting a car seat back together
To sum up, it was a beautiful day of team building and doing something joyful. There’s something really great about seeing practical needs being met. It was so nice to see our practical tasks actually making a difference, and to be part of what this amazing organisation is doing for at-risk families in Melbourne.
Thank you for having us!
If you’d like more information about Our Village, including how to make monetary or other donations and workplace volunteering opportunities, visit their website here.
A view of the warehouse from above