Mums give baby gear to those in need

Clockwise from left, Jessica James, Katherine Walker with baby Tristan, Sage Connor, 8 months, with mum Regan Connor, Marieke Esendam, Jack Fraser, 4 months, and mum Nicky Bangerter. Photo / Andrew Warner

An idea which came from mums with an overflow of baby stuff their children had outgrown is set to help some of the smallest members of the Rotorua community.

Rotorua mum Jessica James came up with the idea of Pepe Packs Rotorua - a service that regifts second hand baby gear and clothing to families in need.

The idea came about when Mrs James started seeing lots of young mums on Facebook looking for donations of items like woollen hats and booties.

The mum of 2-year-old Sonia said she found it sad some people were struggling to get together the essentials, when others had them lying around after their children had grown out of them.

The service, which has been running for about three weeks, is still in its infancy but Mrs James said they hoped it would be popular once people found out about it.

Mrs James teamed up with friends Regan Connor and Katherine Walker from the Rotorua Parents Group to get the service up and running, with volunteers sorting items into packs and handing them out on Wednesday mornings.

Mrs James said people often ended up with an excess of baby clothes, but for sentimental reasons wanted to give them away knowing they'd be used again.

Mrs Walker said while they were already getting donations of baby gear, they were hoping to get financial support to be able to better package up the packs. They are also looking for somewhere to store all the items.

There are no restrictions on who can access the service. People can pop in and collect packs on Wednesdays between 9.30am and 11am at the community house behind the Western Heights Health Centre on Brookland Rd.

Items can also be dropped off to the community house and the group can be contacted through its Facebook page, Pepe Packs Rotorua.