The Newborn Intensive Care Foundation (NICF) Bake for Babies fundraiser is almost here, officially commencing on June 1.
NICF founder and chairman Peter Cursley says the clinical staff at Sale Hospital’s Women’s and Children’s Unit have given him a new challenge that will be the focus of this year’s Bake for Babies fundraiser.
“For this year’s Bake for Babies fundraiser, the Women’s and Children’s Unit Sale Hospital’s clinical staff have requested special chairs that can be converted to beds,” Mr Cursley said.
“The Newborn Intensive Care Foundation’s goal is to raise the funds for 10 new chairs at the cost of $4,950 each.
“These sofa beds will be put in each room to provide a place for partners or a support person to stay overnight. This will ensure that the women giving birth at Sale Hospital will feel more supported and as comfortable as possible.
“Becoming a new parent can be a period of big change. Spending as much time together in hospital as a family is a positive way to start this new phase. These new beds will replace the old ones that are in much need of an upgrade.”
In 1995, the Newborn Intensive Care Foundation was launched and has since raised millions of dollars to help critically ill newborn babies lead healthy, normal lives.
Since commencing operations in Sale in July 2019, Mr Cursley has been able to facilitate more than $220,000 worth of medical equipment for Sale Hospital’s Special Care Nursery through NICF.
Bake For Babies, which officially begins on June 1 and concludes on August 31, has twice been hosted in Gippsland since launching in Canberra in 2017.
Mr Cursley said it is a simple concept.
“People can bake whatever they like – a cake, scones, brownies, cheesecakes, cupcakes, cookies, muffins, biscuits, a slice or maybe charge friends for a seat at a table of a baked dinner,” he said.
“We want people to have fun baking, maybe involving their kids, and then sell their baked creations at a price they think appropriate and donate the profits to the NICF.
“If you are like me and your scones turn out more like ANZAC biscuits, maybe people will sponsor you not to bake!”
Once you have baked your treat of choice, scones, cakes, pizzas, muffins, biscuits, a slice, sell them to your friends, family or colleagues, collect the proceeds and deposit them into the NICF Bake for Babies account at Beyond Bank in Cunninghame Street, Sale. The NICF will do the rest.
One hundred per cent of the money raised through Bake for Babies is dedicated to sending sick babies home from the hospital quicker and healthier through funding high-tech medical equipment.
Last year, the NICF’s Bake for Babies fundraiser, which received a generous donation from local baker Tamara Hall, contributed to purchasing a Resuscitaire for the Sale Hospital’s special care nursery.
Tamara Hall baked more than 300 cupcakes in the 2022 Bake for Babies fundraiser, raising $1100 for the NICF; the local baker now has her sights set on the upcoming 2023 Bake for Babies.
“NICF is a great foundation that spends money locally, which helps our community,” Tamara said.
“I hope to raise more than last year’s $1100.
“We will be attending markets around Gippsland and also selling online via our website (https://eight9fivedesserts.com.au/).”
The Women’s and Children’s Unit provides antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal care for women and their families from across the Wellington Shire and surrounds, East Gippsland and further afield, providing high-quality family and woman-centred care, meeting the needs of a diverse range of families.
NICF has provided equipment such as lactation aids, various size cot nests, knitted and cotton newborn clothes, a phototherapy blanket, four special recliner chairs, a Rescusitaire for the Birthing Unit to help resuscitate babies born who can’t breathe, and an Isolette humidicrib that provides a cocoon-like environment for a recovering newborn.
“We are about to fund a breast pump, special baby scales and a breast milk warmer and a foetal monitoring system,” Mr Cursley said.
“We could not have done this without the help of Beyond Bank, the John Leslie Foundation, and the general community.
“We are 100 per cent voluntary and have no overheads. This means 100 per cent of donations go towards the Foundation’s goal, making Sale’s Special Care Nursery the best regional Special Care Nursery in Victoria.
“Our policy is ‘money raised in the region stays in the region’.”
Information about NICF and Bake for Babies can be found at www.newborn.org.au
