Russian babies need YOUR help!

[nicolelh]

hI Manta,
Thanks so much for the package - I think it was amongst some I got yesterday, although i'll have to go back and check exactly - there were quite a few!

I"m re-washing everything jus to be sure (and napisaning as wel - I know it's a dirty word but when the first lot of boosters leave BLACK water behind after soaking - I figure there's just cause!)

Thanks a lot again!

PS - maz and topcat I got your fleece - thanks heaps, we'll get cutting!

[maz]

oH Im so glad you got the fleece matie. hope you likes the way it was wrapped...good old cling wrap pmsl
Ive closed my store for the rest of december...its been very quiet anyway adn I honestly need a break but i have put up that the 10% for you guys will continue into Jan and probably feb - depending on when I get back into it.

[LiddlePixie]

Wow ~ I think what your doing is Amazing!

I have a massive stack of terries that have never been used (washed in lux & cuddly) if you would like those, some snappi's, I also have probably 10 spare tubes of amolin that i can also send & I would be happy to throw some extra's in my shopping trolley next time i do the groceries, I will check out what you need most now.

Also

Have you contacted J&J in regards to the nappy creams? They're always sending out mass samples & they're a very caring company... They might be able to help.

[chocolatecatty]

Ha am I topcat? At any rate, hope my fleece arrives safely if I'm not!

[maz]

J&J caring...pft! I actually contacted them for samples so I could send them out with my covers...I was willing to buy them but they refussed them to me! And they lady I spoke to on the phone hung up on me aswell.

[nicolelh]

missed reply notification again, darn it!

Maz, I would agree about j&J to be honest! glad not everyone has a bad experience though.
loved the cling wrap - it did the job!

Hi Chocolatte catty, I think you must be! Sorry I got confused - the note with it says catnaps but I wrote top cat instead - sorry! my sister opened the packages for me so I didn't actually get to see the real names and addresses on the parcels.

Liddlepixie,
Thanks, your stuff would be great, especially the creams, counting a few promised (including yours) I think we've almost got enough.

I"ve just posted a new blog post - please check it out: Nappies For Russia Home - the updates page.

Also please note that interstate drop offs have closed now as Australian Air Express have kindly agreed to sponsor couriering it to us - this week!

Maz, thanks heaps for the donations from your store. Good luck with bub's birth - I hope you have an ecstatic birth!! Don't skimp on taking the break that I'm sure you'll need by now - and of course afterwards!

[LiddlePixie]

Great Nicole ~ I'll post everything out to you as soon as i can, I had planned to do it before christmas but it's been crazy around here.

Really Maz, How rude! When my sister had her first bub i asked them for some samples as she has a skin condition & they sent me a whole box of full size stuff.

[FluffyLaRue]

sent mine off to you today Nicole. Also happy to host a "nappies for Russia " store at my congo if you'd like somewhere to auction goods.

[pansy]

I have just across this thread and think you are such a wonderful person Nicole.
I will wait until my DH's pay goes in on Thursday and I would like to donate some money for postage or whatever else you need to buy.
I will send a money order then..

[nicolelh]

Hey everyone,
Just thought i'd post to say that updates have been done on our website semi-recently if you'd like to check it out.

have been trying to focus on getting this washing done!

we've now run out of postage money (after sending 29 parcels) so we're starting auctions soon on fluffy's site (thanks!! ). get ready to check them out real soon - hopefully starting friday this week.

will update when the auctions are ready again.

thanks so much for all your support everyone!!
nicole

[nicolelh]

Hi Everyone,
just letting you all know that the Nappies for Russia auctions are starting at 8pm tonight! Most items will run for 8 days, but more will be added throughout the week as they become available.

Please go and have a look at our items and see if there's something that takes your fancy. Each purchase will raise postage money for Nappies for Russia to send items to babies in need in Russia.

The countdown is on!!

http://www.minicuteture.com.au

Remember - 8pm tonight!

[julian]

I know this is an old thread, but am wondering what happened.

The whole thing smells very odd to me. I think the majority of the world does not use nappies.
Anyone who has travelled a bit will be familiar with babies in crotchless pants.
You see them riding on daddy's shoulder, in supermarket trolleys, on buses. I'm sure there is the odd "accident", but I never saw one. Even in cold parts of NW China they cope well this way. Nappies, cloth or disposable, are a modern luxury for those can afford it, not a necessity.
At best, this program is a terrible waste of money (shipping) that would better be directed to medicine or staff/carer wages (cheap in Russia!), not imported luxury goods.
At worst, it is a scam. And having looked at the website, it has the hallmarks of a scam.
An emotional appeal that strikes at our vulnerabilities (children suffering).
Asking only for cash, not goods. No address, just a PO box. Payments to be made to a person. Not a registered charity. So there are no checks, no accountability. No audit.
Just registering it as a proper charity would allow tax-deduction so people could send twice as much.
More likely though, the scam is at the other end. These would be readily salable items.
I hope somebody here can partly allay my fears.

[Phteven]

I think you're a bit confused Julian. The poster requested goods not services.
She is known IRL to a few members of the fluffy community.
If you're really concerned feel free to contact the Church that is involved with this charity Welcome - Home -?Ashgrove Baptist Church

[nicolelh]

Julian,
I am sorry that you think this has the hallmarks of a scam. You are wrong of course, but thank you for expressing your concerns.

we are currently ONLY raising postage money as we have already received more than enough nappies for the appeal over the last 9 months. You can feel free to re-read the old posts to see that we did collect nappies for a very long time.

we have also nearly raised enough postage money - mostly by selling nappies in our auctions - and seeing as those who bought these nappies in auction were very happy to receive goods in return for their cash - at prices that were CHEAPER than they would have paid retail in most cases - i"m sure they don't think it was a waste of their money.

As I stated very early on in the piece, this is a short term appeal only and so registration as a deductible gift recipient is not justified - i"m not sure if you are aware of how long it takes to do this but I have done it previously for another charity that I am on the board of and it can take up to a year to get it all finalised. Originally I had hoped to get all these nappies sent off within a few months however it has taken longer due to having to pack up all the packages myself working around a family.

I have not provided a physical address since I did not want to provide my own address so there was more accountability by having goods sent to the church not to me personally. teh church street address is not secured so a po box address was used.

The items have been given directly into the hands of mothers who are desperate for items for their babies. a good proportion of these women are known personally to my friend living in russia and the orphanages and aid agencies who have received the supplies over there are either government run or run by international NGOs. as far as luxury goods are concerned - the vast majority of the nappies sent were well worn terry towelling squares - hardly luxurious!

you may believe that nappies are not needed. that's fine. I practice EC myself and let me tell you accidents are a most frequent occurence, especially in teh early months, and in minus 30 degrees having wet pants is most undesirable. The primary point however, (which is stated very clearly on teh website) is that the Russians do not practice EC until the babies are 6 months old and for hte first six months the babies are currently being nappied in dirty reused disposables. providing a hygeinic alternative to this is hardly an unecessary luxury. babies have ended up in hospital with kidney infections and complications to their HIV AIDS as a direct result of bacteria from faecal matter infecting their nappy rash.

I would suggest that you would re-think your view that nappies are unecessary if you consider the fact that many of these nappies have been directed to orphanages with over 50 babies in their care - to 4 or 5 staff members. Do you think you could effectively potty 10 babies and maintain hygeinic conditions all on your own?

I will admit htat I have been slack in updating the website lately due to family committments and I will go and see what needs updating now. I recommend that if you do have any further concersn you can feel free to speak to any member of the church (to whom I gave a big address 2 weeks ago about the appeal) or have a look back through the threads here and on other forums and see just how much work went into managing this appeal - work which would not have been worth the result if I was making money for myself.

thank you.

[maz]

Julian

Such a shame that you feel that this is a 'scam'. believe it or not there are poeple out there that do actually USE cloth nappies all over the world.....Yes I agree wages to poorer countries are disgusting but just giving them people something as useful as a cloth nappy will help them in so many ways.

Money isnt always the answer..material objects help out so much aswell. And do you honestly think the Crew here at BB would let someone come on here and scam money from us? the girls are so on the ball but then I can see that yourve only done 2 post . Stick around, get to know what BB really is and you might see us all in a different light

And

Nicole - you have done a truely wonderful job honey. Charity comes from the heart not the hip pocket and if there were more people like you in this world it would be a much better place.

[~Raven~]

Thanks for the update Nicole