RecognizeGood Spotlight: Hand to Hold

For the Love of Babies

A few weeks ago I came across an article in Austin Woman magazine called For the Love of Babies. It instantly got my attention and reached me on a very personal level. For the Love of Babies is a 100-day campaign to educate and mentor parents of premature babies. The organization Hand to Hold launched the campaign. Hand to Hold focuses on carefully matching seasoned parents of preemies with parents in need of support.

I was particularly moved and excited to learn about this nonprofit. It took me back to the summer of 2007 when my sister delivered a premature baby girl at 31 weeks. She was a 3lbs 1oz feisty little girl, who did remarkably well, but faced her share of challenges during her long stay at the NICU. I’ll never forget the emotional rollercoaster of the day she was born, and that was as her aunt – I can only imagine what it would be like as a parent.

From that perspective, having just tasted what it is like for parents of preemies, reading about this organization tugged at my heartstrings and made me wish deeply for my sister’s sake that they’d had something as wonderful as this when they walked through that hard season! It seems to me there are a lot of nonprofits out there these days, but this one truly is a gem.

The campaign began on January 20th, and will run through April 13th. It is a time to raise awareness and  funding to increase the availability of educational materials for NICU families. More than 500,000 babies are born prematurely each year across the country. Consider being a part of this campaign and bringing hope to parents of those preemies! To find out more, please visit Hand to Hold’s website, at www.handtohold.org.