Second Stork provides families in need with essential newborn care items to give their baby a safe and healthy start.
Welcoming a newborn into the world should be a joyous and hopeful time! The reality is that many new parents are financially stretched, anxious and unprepared to bring their baby home from the hospital. Often, they don’t have the basic supplies to keep the baby safe and healthy those first few weeks of life. By basic we mean a safe place to sleep, an adequate supply of diapers and wet wipes, newborn clothing, and blankets. Second Stork can help bridge an approximate two-week gap from the time a newborn is discharged from the hospital to when family support or social services become available. We believe every baby should have a safe and healthy beginning!
Second Stork® began when a St. Paul hospital social worker told a poignant story to our founders about the hardship that some new families face.
The story described a moment when a new mother was discharged from the hospital. She simple was not fully prepared to keep her newborn safe and healthy and did not have the resources to help her. The social worker said, “At moments like that, I wish I had a “magic closet” I could turn to and grab the important things a baby needs and just give it to the mother. But with all the applications, waiting times, and other red tape these days, that will never happen.” A critical moment of need was identified. The founders decided to build that “magic closet” and to partner with healthcare professionals to identify and care for new parents in crisis experiencing a moment of unpreparedness.
Founded in 2009, Second Stork is a Minnesota 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides essential infant-care items to families in need completely free of charge. Second Stork has no religious nor politically partisan affiliation or agendas in its mission or operations, but instead works to unify all people to come together to help others in need. We respect the privacy of every family we serve, and we never ask a family to complete a form. Second Stork works in ways to respect the dignity of people in need by having healthcare professionals be their point of contact and by distributing only new items that any mother would be proud to use.
Second Stork’s perspective is that the expert judgment of experienced medical professionals and hospital staff is better than any application. They are on the front lines and are licensed professionals, know the questions to ask, the diversity of situations, and the need to act quickly.
Second Stork identifies the essentials based on input from healthcare professionals that work directly with families in need. Hospital representatives can use Second Stork’s order form to request the following:
Diaper bags with 100 diapers, safe sleep information, newborn hygiene items like wet wipes, diaper rash ointments and baby wash.
Playards with bassinet attachments for safe sleep. A large portion of our annual budget is spent on portable playards for families without a sleeping option for their newborn. We only provide playards that are recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and comply with crib safety guidelines of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Newborn Clothing and Blanket Sets are available in three sizes, and include a sleeper, t-shirt, cap and a thin cotton receiving blanket.
Bottles and Pacifiers are available for a hospital to provide to a family.
Second Stork is a volunteer run organization. School groups, corporate teams, families and charitable groups of all kinds come to our warehouse to pack our diaper bags. Volunteers run our operations and deliver our supplies to hospitals. And we are grateful for the pro bono professionals across so many specialties that donate their expertise and services to keep the stork flying.
Interested in joining our rank of volunteers? Second Stork offers many ways to get involved.
Since 2009, thanks to countless volunteers and hospital partners, Second Stork has helped give more than 10,000 babies a safe and healthy start!