Sally McKenzie (Haisman, 1973) and St Kilda Mums!
Wednesday, 15 December 2021
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Sally McKenzie (pictured right) loves volunteering at St Kilda Mums, and she is alarmed by the statistic that one in six Australian children lives in poverty. 

Sally knows that many people want to help, and to support a reliable cause, but it is becoming increasingly hard to choose one over another.  Sally McKenzie chose St Kilda Mums - an organisation that was born out of two admirable goals: the desire to avoid sending items to landfill and the desire to help other mothers.

Its original founder, Jessica McPherson, noticed a pile of pre-loved clothes sitting in a corner of the Infant Welfare Centre in St Kilda around mid-2000s. No one had time to sort them to be given out.

Jessica and friends took the garments home and washed and bundled them.  On returning them to the Infant Welfare Centre, she was met with such a delighted response that an idea was born.  Pre-loved baby goods would be recycled to other families in need.

From humble beginnings on Jessie’s front verandah, St Kilda Mums moved to premises in Vale St, St Kilda.  Today, St Kilda Mums (incl. Geelong and Eureka Mums) has relocated to a spacious warehouse in Winterton Rd, Clayton. Now under CEO, Ruth Holdaway MBE, this remarkable organisation supplies families in metropolitan and regional areas of Victoria. 

On any given day, the  warehouse hums with activity.  ABBA pumps from the speakers!  Volunteers, in pink or blue aprons, pack strong plastic bags with clean clothes, toys, shoes, toiletries, nappies, books and linen.  Clipboard in hand, staff and volunteers fill orders for specific families.  Families in need.  Social workers back their cars up to the entrance and open their boots and they drive away laden with goods.

In the Tinkers’ Corner, a clean second-hand Bugaboo pram, which arrived the day before, is checked for safety and then wheeled around to Dispatch to have a new soft toy and hand-knitted blanket placed inside. Total time in the warehouse - under 24 hours.

Around the corner is the big-hearted Rob ‘the cotologist’ who takes pre-loved cots and safety-checks them, before cleaning and re-painting them. 

In Sally's area, the Book Nook, they aim to include (new) glue sticks, erasers, scissors and colouring books and they often recycle as-new textas, pencils and crayons as well as reading books, packed into a clean sturdy backpack.
 
They have a plethora of pirates, dinosaurs, unicorns, fairies, Wiggles and Bluey backpacks.
 

Donations come in many forms.  People donate time, money, goods. Businesses that are closing down often make significant donations of new children’s items, which can sustain St Kilda Mums for months, and primary schools donate left-over crayons and pencils when they empty their classrooms at the end of each year.

At St Kilda Mums, the atmosphere is friendly and relaxed, but the attention to detail is remarkable and standards are high.  "Would you give this item to a friend?" is often asked.  Each item has a blue sticker with the SKM angel wings logo and is signed by the person who made it. 

Each package is a gift.

A clothing pack for a 4-year old girl might have a sparkly tutu on one side and a unicorn tee-shirt on the other. A 16 year old boy might receive a cool black pack with binder folders, stationery and a book about Space.

St Kilda Mums is not the only organization in the community, but it’s one that works extremely well.

Sally has been volunteering at St Kilda Mums for the past five years and can testify to their reputation.

No donation is unappreciated. 
Not a dollar is wasted.
It is efficient, organised, compassionate and effective.

It takes a village to raise a child.  For Sally, that village is St Kilda Mums.

If you are interested in donating funds, items or would like to consider volunteering to St Kilda Mums, go here.