Cuddle bundles celebrates volunteers

More than eight years after it started life as a tiny passion project, Cuddle Bundles, the volunteer baby essentials program run under the banner of the National Council of Jewish Women Australia NSW (NCJWA NSW), recently gathered its community of volunteers, partner organisations and supporters in Sydney to say thank you.

Cuddle Bundles is a volunteer organisation that provides gift bundles of baby essentials to new mums with limited means, supporting local Sydney mums and beyond through referrals and aid groups. Recipients, often women escaping domestic violence, refugees, or those facing poverty or mental illness, are referred by social workers from hospitals, shelters, community centres and other organisations.

The evening was part celebration, part reflection, and the stories shared made clear just how far the program has come.

NCJWA NSW chair of Cuddle Bundles Michele Brandenburger traced the program’s origins back to December 2018, when the first bundle was put together in a lounge room, using outgrown clothing from her baby granddaughter. Coming from South Africa, Brandenburger was well aware of the difficult conditions many new mums faced, often leaving clinics with babies wrapped in newspaper. She wanted to give new life to hardly-used babywear and bring it to those who needed it most.

“We started with a dream, a space to work in, an upstairs attic to store things in, and zero funding,” Brandenburger told guests.

It wasn’t easy in those early days. Persuading organisations to accept pre-loved items was a challenge, and for much of the first year it was just three people. But the program extended its reach steadily, to hospitals, community centres and shelters, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, Cuddle Bundles was granted special permission to pack and deliver items to fulfil urgent requests.

Today, the scale is something else entirely.

“We have 24 wonderful volunteers who go over and above,” Brandenburger said. “We receive referrals from over 50 different organisations, and that number grows each week.”

At the heart of it all though, are the volunteers, and Brandenburger was emphatic about their contribution.

“Our incredible volunteers are passionate about what we are doing and virtually take ownership of the babies they are packing for, ensuring their bundles will be extra special for their recipient mum and baby,” she explained with a smile.

One of the most powerful moments of the evening was Brandenburger reading aloud a letter from a midwife in the Northern Territory, describing how Cuddle Bundles supplies had helped a pregnant mother of two young children who had escaped a violent partner and was navigating poverty, injury and the legal system simultaneously.

The midwife wrote that having donations on hand meant she could focus on actually helping and advocating for the woman, rather than sourcing supplies. As the letter put it: “The clothes, nappies and formula you send really do change lives. They help women feel cared for and remind them that there are people out there who see them and want to help.”

NCJWA NSW president Nathalie Samia also spoke warmly of what the program represents.

“When you’re a new mum, even if you’ve got all the support networks around you, it’s really hard,” Samia said. “And if you don’t have all those support networks, and it’s expensive. And then to get this magic package.”

Samia described the Tuesday volunteer sessions as an “army of women” assembling bundles that are “delivered like magic storks across the city, and sometimes even beyond, places as far afield as the Northern Territory.”

The program has also sent goods internationally, including toys sent to India with Doctors Without Borders to encourage children to participate in vaccination programs.

Guests at the event included social workers, partner charities, business donors and individual supporters, among them a “secret angel” who, at the mere mention of low supplies, turns up arms filled to the brim with whatever the organisation needs, and another dubbed “Nana Wendy” who regularly posts parcels of hand-knitted beanies and bootie sets all the way from Tamworth.

“Teamwork is dreamwork, and tonight is about celebrating working together and thanking every one of you here who works with us,” Brandenburger said. “Together, we can move mountains.”

To learn more about Cuddle Bundles, visit cuddlebundles.org.au