SECOND STORK
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Mission Statement
Second Stork provides immediate access to critical newborn care items to new parents in crisis to help keep their baby safe and healthy in the first few weeks. In addition to this mission statement, Second Stork is founded on being non-political and non-religious in its mission, being highly efficient in its operations, and always working in ways that respect the dignity of people in need.
About This Cause
Second Stork's mission is to serve new parents in need by providing critical care items for a newborn. The items are provided to the parent by hospital staff so that the parent has the items before they leave the hospital. Critical care items provided by Second Stork include play yards with sheets (so the newborn has a safe, clean place to sleep and discourages dangerous "co-sleeping" with newborns), newborn clothing and receiving blankets, and diapers with related accessories (wet wipes, hygiene items such as baby wash, baby detergent, diaper rash ointment, baby lotion and a changing pad.) As of 2021, Second Stork serves 100 hospitals across all of Minnesota and western Wisconsin, and provides the above help to nearly 3000 families in need with a newborn. Second Stork is completely non-religious and non-political in its mission and operations, remains 100% volunteer-based, and works in ways to always respect the dignity of people in need. Second Stork is also unique in its operations because, unlike governmental agencies and other non-profits, Second Stork requires no paperwork, applications or approvals from the hospital staff nor from the parents in need. Instead, Second Stork's model relies solely on the expert judgment of the licensed social workers and nurse managers at hospitals to determine which new parents are most in need of certain items to care for their newborn, and which parents most lack resources to adequately secure the items after they leave the hospital, either in terms of money, friends and family network, or prior social services enrollment. Second Stork volunteers deliver the items to hospitals where the social workers simply retrieve and store the items. When their inventory is low, volunteers simply bring more. No complicated applications, red tape, or record keeping for families or social workers. Second Stork maintains detailed records of items delivered to each hospital. Second Stork relies on cash donations, foundation grants and collection drives to secure most items distributed to hospitals. The bags of diapers and related items are secured via "diaper operations" within Second Stork which relies on corporate surplus (expired promotional kits with newborn diapers in them) and over 1000 volunteers annually. A unique part of Second Stork's operations is the way in which the diapers are secured for families in need. Second Stork provides hospitals with bags of 100 newborn diapers, as well as packets of the related items. To secure the contents of these bags, Second Stork processes expired promotional kits from diaper manufacturers and retailers. These are surplus that often otherwise finds its way to landfills in the U.S. The kits contain samples of diapers, along with other items and expired coupons. Second Stork has accepted many semi-trucks full of pallets of expired promotional kits in the last several years. In 2015, over 1000 volunteers sorted 100,000 expired kits at our warehouse and repacked them into the condensed Second Stork bags to be distributed to hospitals. Volunteer groups come from schools, corporations, small businesses, churches, family gathering and event children's birthday parties. Second Stork's "diaper operations" generate a significant amount of surplus beyond what can be distributed to parents in need in the hospital network. (For example, for every one diaper pack of 100 diapers, there are 50-100 of the other promotional samples, such as pacifiers, baby toys, etc.) As a result, Second Stork has created partnerships with other non-profits of all sizes to take this surplus and distribute it in our communities to people in need. Second Stork boxes the surplus, packs them onto pallets, and the surplus is picked up by small local charities and larger non-profits to be distributed to families in need in North and South America. Surplus includes pacifiers, baby bottles, baby rattles, breast milk storage bags, nursing pads and other items. Second Stork's by-laws assure continued environmental responsibility to assure that these items find their way to families in need and not to landfills. The demographic profile of families in need is highly diverse. From a Second Stork survey of networked hospitals, the profile of families helped by Second Stork includes, but is not limited, to the following: • Unplanned pregnancies- mothers are in "denial", completely unprepared for newborn (financially and psychologically) • Sudden unemployment of one or more parents (often caused by bed rest required in pregnancy) • Domestic abuse - mothers cannot safely return to previous living conditions • Immigrants - new to country and have left all belongings in war-torn homeland to seek refuge and new life in America • Teen Mothers - abandoned by family due to pregnancy; often leaving hospital with newborn to sleep on couches at friends' apartments As of 2015, Second Stork remains -- miraculously -- fully volunteer-based with NO paid staff. In 2015, Second Stork will have helped over 1300 families in crisis with a newborn, nearly twice the number helped in 2014. By engaging a larger circle of committed volunteers, Second Stork grew in 2015 from 18 Twin Cities hospitals to over 40 Minnesota hospitals across the state, from Albert Lea and Austin in the south to Hibbing and Virginia in the north.