UJW gives 120 bags to new mothers in Alex and other clinics
UJW volunteers pack more than 120 Bags for New Beginnings for mothers giving birth in Alex and other clinics and hospitals around the City of Johannesburg.
On Mitzvah Day on November 19, more than 55 000 people around the world came together to give their time to make a difference to the communities around them.
It was no different this year for the Union of Jewish Women (UJW) in Johannesburg, who chose Bags for New Beginnings as their Mitzvah Day project, and volunteers of all ages and from different communities came together to pack 120 bags.
The bags will then be handed out to new moms at the Hillbrow, Edenvale, and Alexandra clinics, Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, and these will be distributed via the Glow movement.
The Union of Jewish Women started the Bags for New Beginnings initiative as a Mandela Day project in 2015 and it continues to be such a heart-warming one. Mothers giving birth at government clinics and hospitals often arrive without any items for their newborns. “We gift these new mothers with bags filled with all they need to take the baby home, including blankets, nappies, baby cream, wet wipes, sanitary pads and some items for mom, including water and biscuits,” said the UJW’s office and projects manager Vanessa Weltman.
Weltman said every mom deserved some dignity and joy as they start on their new motherhood journey and this project, run by Bev Cohen, an executive committee member of UJW Johannesburg, seeks to do just that.
UJW would like to thank its generous sponsors and community for their fantastic donations, Weltman said.
Related Article: Local heritage sites receive new plaques
