Life Project: Care Bags for a Maternity Home

This project has been shared by the Southwestern Illinois LFL Life Chapter #343. Thank you to Jennifer Becker-Roscow, Life Chapter President, for her detailed information.

Many of us that were For Life before Roe v. Wade legalized abortion will remember maternity homes—places where some women went to quietly carry their babies to term and then give them up for adoption. Other women would choose to come back from these homes with their new baby. In both cases, the mothers chose life.

Praise God, there are still maternity homes to be found in our communities. Maternity Housing Coalition’s most recent 2023 report states that there are now more than 450 maternity homes in the U.S., a 23% increase since the Dobbs decision overturned Roe. v. Wade in 2022.¹ It may take a little research to find one, but they are still out there in our neighborhoods, working to save the lives of both baby and mom.

The Southwestern Illinois LFL Life Chapter #343 decided to find such a home and make gift bags for the residents. They chose Zoe’s Home, a maternity and parenting home operated by Trinity Lutheran Church of Clinton, Missouri. The home’s website explains their ministry:

The home is comfortable and inviting, is completely furnished, and has enough room for up to three residents. Our program serves women who are pregnant or have children under the age of three who:

1. Need a safe, stable home in which to live and carry their baby to full term.
2. Want to choose life for their baby and parent or place for adoption.
3. Strongly desire to learn and improve their lives.
4. Want and need a relationship with God and others.

We strive to provide women an opportunity to restore, redirect, and redeem their lives and the lives of their children through the love of Christ.

The maternity home staff gave the Life Chapter a general list of items the residents could use when they moved to their own homes again. “Kitchen items” were on the list, so members of the Life Chapter purchased the following items:

1. Large bundles of standard kitchen towels and dishrags to be divided among the gift bags
2. Plastic serving spoons and spatulas
3. Knives, forks, and spoons
4. Measuring cups and measuring spoon sets
5. A bottle of multi-purpose liquid cleaner and sponges

Bedding was also on the list, so the group bought twin-, full-, and queen-size sheet sets. Canvas bags were purchased, and each was filled with the following items: one sheet set, two dish towels, two dishrags, a serving spoon and spatula set, five sets of silverware, a set of measuring cups, a set of measuring spoons, and a bottle of cleaner with two sponges.

The Life Chapter collected the items, and then ten of their senior youth assembled fifteen bags, which took them about thirty minutes. The cost was between $400 to $500. A Thrivent Action Team gift card, several other gift cards, and additional donations paid for the project.

They also bought a package of blank note cards, and a few members of the senior youth group wrote short notes of encouragement to be included in the gift bags. As the home was some distance from the Life Chapter churches, they were fortunate to have someone deliver the bags for them.

Several things the Life Chapter discovered that you should be aware of if you want to do a similar project:

1. It is important to ask what items the maternity home wants to include in the bags, as it may vary. Zoe’s Home did not want baby items, but your chosen home may have different needs.
2. Ask what the home’s communication and privacy policy is. The Southwestern Illinois Life Chapter heard nothing from the maternity home or the gift bag recipients after their project ended.  It is quite possible that privacy requirements were the reason, but it would be helpful to know the policy ahead of time to avoid the disappointment the givers felt when no one acknowledged the receipt of their gifts.
3. If one or two people are willing to do all the purchasing, a project might take only two weeks.
4. If one wishes to involve your congregation(s) in purchasing the needed items and bringing them to a central collection point, you might want to publicize it several weeks longer.
5. If engaging your young people to fill the gift bags, use this time as a teaching tool to discuss Christian ethics, abstinence, compassion, early parenting, and other related issues involved with unplanned pregnancy and the consequences that may arise. Important life lessons can be learned while filling the bags. One of the most important lessons to be learned here is that these moms supported the sanctity of life and chose life for their baby, not always under the best of conditions. A personal note of encouragement and support could mean a lot to them.
6. Plan your delivery schedule beforehand, especially if the home is some distance away from your church(es).

Jesus told His disciples, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12). The Apostle John tells us “We love because he first loved us”       (1 John 4:19). Sometimes the people that need our love are right in front of us, and sometimes we need to search them out! Wherever the Lord leads you as you minister to those in need, may you find joy in knowing that you have shown love and support to someone who has chosen life. With your gift bag, you may have touched someone’s heart with the love of Jesus even if they do not recognize Him … yet. Perhaps someday your gift of “kitchen items and bedding” will bear eternal fruit. This will always be our prayer! (¹https://maternityhousing.com/images/MH_Impact_Report_2023_website.pdf)