Te Awamutu: Loving Arms charity hits milestone of helping 5000 Waikato families

Loving Arms founders Jamie and Sharni Budd amongst the bulk items in storage. Photo / Dean Taylor

It was almost 10 years ago that Te Awamutu’s Sharni Budd saw one new mum in need and decided she would try to help.

Her goal was to help that one mum so she gave what she could and turned to social media for more help.

Soon she had enough donated clothing and vouchers to help 10 new mums. The seed for Loving Arms was sown.

And now that seed has flourished beyond expectations, with Loving Arms husband and wife team of Sharni and Jamie Budd signing on their 5000th family needing help.

The original goal remains the same: Every baby matters and every family counts.

Sharni’s vision was to see that every baby born in the community was adequately clothed and every new family cared for, supported and encouraged during that all-important time after the birth and throughout the child’s first year.

It is a Waikato-wide organisation, helping mums from the Coromandel to Tokoroa, but the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis have seen the net spread even wider when resources allow.

Sharni said for the first time, double-income families were coming to Loving Arms for help, as even they are struggling with the cost of living.

Jaime said it was bittersweet, knowing they were doing what they can, but the need was still growing.

Looking after babies was often just part of the problem, so Loving Arms also received requests that don’t fit their remit. These were referred to other agencies.

They received a number of their clients through referrals and work closely with social workers, Kirikiriroa Family Services Trust, midwives, Plunket, Winz, Oranga Tamariki, community workers, health workers, HeretoHelpU and the police.

The numbers kept growing and that has meant big changes for the Budd family.

Loving Arms staff member Zelda Nortje (second from left) with volunteers, from left: Roger George, Jackie Wilkins, Marie Emmett, Jan MacDonald, Ina Vlaanderen and Shirley Green at the sorting station. Photo / Dean Taylor

Four years ago they formed the Loving Arms Charitable Trust, with Jamie serving as chairman of the board and Sharni as a board member.

Jamie also left his job as the associate pastor at Zion Church to be a stay-at-home dad to the couple’s eight children, releasing Sharni to work full-time at Loving Arms.

The board set a goal of helping 2000 families.

To help meet the growing need, three years ago they moved into a leased building in Rickit Rd. Now it is full.

Previously they had worked from home, then a shed and had items stored at various locations around Waipā District.

Sharni said they never expected to help 5000 families.

To put things in perspective, in the first five years they helped 500 mums and reached 1000 after seven years.

Loving Arms had between 20 and 24 volunteers who turn up each week to clean, sort, pack and deliver about 25 boxes of clothing and other necessary items for a family with a baby.

Now they were getting three or four registrations per day.

Sharni was still running Loving Arms now while Jamie had taken on 20 hours work per week to keep the family afloat.

They tirelessly kept working to fulfill their initial goal and acknowledged the great team of volunteers, financial and other supporters and businesses that help make it work.

Loving Arms had between 20 and 24 volunteers who turn up each week to clean, sort, pack and deliver about 25 boxes of clothing and other necessary items for a family with a baby.

These include sanitary items, nappies, cots, pushchairs and prams and car seats.

Loving Arms also has a trained car seat technician employed to check and sign off on the safety of the car seats.

Rising costs just to run Loving Arms, plus tougher times to attract funds, meant the organisation had to develop strategies to keep them on their game.

However, helping someone can be as simple as giving a bit of time, they said.

Sharni said the older generation knew a lot about knitting, sewing and mending so they made sure all the clothes were in great condition before they were sent out, or produced baby blankets or other useful items.

Donations form another key to Loving Arms’ success.

They welcomed clothing from premature to size 2, as well as baby furniture, prams and pushchairs, car seats and cash donations.

Jamie said each care package had a value of about $1000, which meant Loving Arms contributed $5 million worth of value to the community so far.

For more information visit the Loving Arms website at lovingarms.org.nz or email the team at info@lovingarms.org.nz.

Donations can be made via www.tinyurl.com/LA2020MonthlySupport.

Dean Taylor is a community journalist with more than 35 years of experience and is editor of the Te Awamutu Courier and Waikato Herald.