PHOTO
Taieri Altrusa members have put their sewing skills to good use, creating special garments, bedding and comfort items for tiny babies in Dunedin Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
After learning about the work of the Little Miracles Trust through its Dunedin-based Family Support co-ordinator Shelley Gorman, the members of Altrusa International of Taieri Inc decided to provide as many resources as possible for NICU.
The Little Miracles Trust works to support whānau experiencing the uncertain journey with their newborns in need of specialist care. These may include the 4800 babies born prematurely in New Zealand each year, and more than 1000 full-term babies requiring specialist neonatal care in NICU or a Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU).
Earlier this year, Taieri Altrusa members and the Willowfield group, of Outram, joined together in a sewing bee, creating items using patterns and information from the Little Miracles Trust website.
These included scent hearts, quilts, sheets, blankets, knitted singlets, and muslins — all made using donated materials.
Since then, Taieri Altrusa members have continued their work, producing many more items for the babies.
Willowfield group member Annette Telfer constructed more than 100 sheets using fabric bought and donated by her daughter for the project, while Margaret Stevens made quilts. Heather Hore and Jill Scouler also worked on many more of the donated items.
In total, the Taieri Altrusa and Willowfield members created 130 sheets, 25 muslins, 25 quilts, 85 sets of scent hearts and many knitted items, which were donated to NICU for families.