Changing
women’s lives,
one bag at a time.
Because not everyone gets a visit
from Santa.
By Natasha Rawiri, Midwife Coordinator Safe Sleep
& Smoking Cessation .
Staff in Maternity, Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU), and other
departments at Tauranga Hospital have been busy over the
last few months gathering together items for the “Its in the Bag”
campaign. The campaign was established in other areas around
New Zealand last year and struck a chord with many people. The
campaign encourages people to donate a handbag or toilet bag
and fill it with items to be donated to the local Women’s Refuge.
Many women are working really hard to provide for their families -
they give what they can to their children, but when it comes to the
festive season it's often these women themselves who go without.
This year SCBU Registered Nurse Nina Simmons and myself
decided to promote the “Its in the Bag” campaign to Tauranga
Hospital staff. We asked staff to dig deep and donate goods. Items
that were suggested for donation included a handbag or toilet
bag filled with items such as soaps, shower gels, body lotions,
toothbrush and toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner, sanitary
items, band aids, tissues, deodorants, and of course any “luxury”
items such as nail polish, make-up, perfume, sunscreen and hair
products. The Maternity and SCBU team embraced the opportunity
and donated many items. The aim was to get at least 50 bags that
they could donate, but due to the amazingly generous donations
close to 100 filled bags of varying sizes will now be donated to
Tauranga Women’s Refuge. Its such a great opportunity to give to
those who deserve a little bit more at Christmas time. Thank you!
8
Nina Simmons and Natasha Rawiri with some of the donations.