When I started volunteering at the West Pasco Pregnancy Center it was in the boutique. At that time it was in a small room that had diapers, wipes and donated used baby clothing and accessories. My job was to sort through the bags of donations, restock the shelves, store the extra clothing and donate or dispose of what wasn’t usable.
I had been volunteering a couple of years when a new director was hired. After a few weeks on the job she came to me and said that she only wanted new items for the boutique. My immediate thought was, “That’s impossible.” We depended on donations of good used items from the public to stock the boutique and received very few new items. (besides diapers and wipes.) How would we ever get enough new items to keep it stocked?
A yard sale was held to dispose of the used clothing. The boutique was nearly empty so was looking very bare. I said a prayer to the Lord. I told him that I put the stocking of the boutique in His hands. It was up to Him on how it would get stocked.
Shortly after the prayer one of my friends asked me if the center could use some new infant clothing and accessories. She worked for a store that had left over stock from the old season. They were switching over to the new season and wanted to donate the old.
Around this time a nearby business called saying that they wanted to hold a baby shower for the center. Several civic organizations and churches at the same time had baby showers for the center. All of this without us asking for donations.
Most of the time when a group would have a baby shower for the center it would just be diapers and wipes. These showers had those but also had clothing and accessories, toiletries, blankets, hooded towels, rattles, pacifiers, and much more. We also had several groups of women knitting blankets, sweaters, caps and booties or sewing quilts.
The center gladly accepted all of these donations. It wasn’t too long before the boutique was restocked with all new items! Praise the Lord!
Here are current pictures of the Blessing Boutique in our new location. It’s continuing to be a blessing to Moms and their babies. We can not stock it with out the help of our community! Thanks to all who donate!
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