VIDEO: ‘These kids are our kids’ – WestSide Baby CommuniTea focuses on interconnection, raises $600,000+

(UPDATED 7:36 PM with video and more photos; earlier 5:53 pm update with revised total: $600,000+)
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By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

“These kids are our kids.”

Interconnection was at the heart of what brought more than 600 people together this afternoon – not just theirs, but their interconnection with the people they were there to help via WestSide Baby, which now serves families in need all over King County.

The White Center-headquartered nonprofit got a sizable show of support this afternoon – (5:53 pm update) $600,000+ is the revised total – during its 15th annual CommuniTea, held once again at the Hilton conference center by Sea-Tac Airport, following what was hailed as a “record-setting year.”

The fundraising total grew (from $315,000 last year), as did the number of children served by WS Baby this year – 31,325, up from 331 in its first year – said executive director Nancy Woodland, who also noted other numbers:

For example, tea attendance was more than 600, almost 8 times the first benefit tea not long after Donna Pierce founded WS Baby in 2001. The organization has “stayed true to its mission,” Woodland said, of providing diapers, car seats, and other vital items to children in need.

With the tea reaching the 15-year milestone, a special spotlight shone on people who had long been involved with WS Baby; they reminisced about the milestones it hit over the years.

“A healthy community is the result of very deliberate choice – to see each other, to care about one another, to show up when someone needs you,” Woodland continued, saying WS Baby has served more than 200,000 children over the years so far – more than 250,000 if you count the service of the agencies that have become part of/partners with WS Baby recently. Some of those kids might have gotten help just once, like Zach, whose story she told – a boy who needed a car seat long ago, while some need a bit more. Zach also made a CommuniTea appearance later via this video shown at the CommuniTea:

Woodland also recalled the excitement of last fall when the issue of “diaper need” hit the White House radar. She said she was able to tell President Obama about the local efforts when he came to Seattle last year; then, they learned a few weeks ago that the White House budget includes “$10 million to support diaper need.” But – “that does not let the rest of you off the hook,” Woodland cautioned. “There is no way that the government alone can address diaper need,” Woodland warned.

Organizations like WS Baby are vital, and Woodland lauded her staff for its “fierce focus on helping children.” One of them, deputy director Sarah Schilz, was brought onstage to tell the heartbreaking tale of her infant son’s death last November and the heartening story of how the community embraced her and her family in the face of tragedy. She said her family had the means to cover expenses and other needs – but, bringing it back around to families who don’t, “what happens to (those families)? WestSide Baby happens. … When we feel broken, we need one another.” Attendees rose at that point for a standing ovation.

Two more WestSide Baby staffers, Hannah and Becky, presented the Donna Pierce Service Awards in the name of the organization’s founder. The first, someone “with a flair for numbers and an eye for details,” Ryan Bartlett (a board member until recently), was honored. Also, a “community partner that helps us whenever it’s needed,” including lending the use of company trucks, La Mexicana (a White Center company that also happens to be WS Baby’s landlord) received the award.

Tea chair Shannon Braddock hailed the 1,300+ volunteers who help WS Baby each year and the countless donors.

She also referred to the larger area that WS Baby now serves, and expressed gratitude for “the village” that helps WS Baby.

The keynote speaker, who traveled to Seattle from Memphis, was Vicki Clark, from the board of the National Diaper Bank Network.

Clark called WestSide Baby one of the “brightest stars” on the national diaper-need scene. She said five generations are currently connected in the movement – from Gen Z to “World War II people,” all joined in the desire to “keep kids warm, safe, and dry.”

Her theme was based on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.‘s quote that “we are … tied in a single garment of destiny.”

“I love the way you respect the families,” she said. “(With) not a handout, but a hand up.” And yet, she noted with humor that cracked up every parent in the room (and then some), babies are incredibly needy – but grow up to be strong adults. “That’s the destiny piece .. our destinies are all interconnected. … You didn’t have to come here. You came here because we are all connected.” And, she said, everyone in the room was there to help launch another “phenomenal year” for the work WS Baby does.

It’s a journey that doesn’t “leave anyone behind,” she stressed. And as Woodland had said, while the support grows, the need grows too, so Clark urged all to “recommit … This year, what will you do (to help children)?”

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(Clark and Woodland, photographed post-CommuniTea)

WS Baby, by the way, doesn’t just help kids – it gets help FROM kids, too. Woodland spoke of children who organized diaper drives and other ways to draw donations. And during the tea, along with young volunteers helping with the logistics – pointing guests where they needed to go – 9-year-old volunteer Kate (tea chair Braddock’s daughter) was on stage to help with the Tombola drawing, which included prizes such as a spa package, a kids-activity package, and a TV. As is a tradition, Woodland’s children McInnis and Phineas took a turn onstage during another drawing.

The special drawings are part of what make the tea fun each year. They included “It Takes the Cake,” selling glass cupcakes crafted by West Seattle’s Avalon Glassworks for $50, with the caveat that buyers not open the boxes until a specific moment in the event – at which time one “cake” buyer found a $1,200 diamond necklace in the box, courtesy of Wyatt’s Jewelers (WSB sponsor) in Westwood Village. (Photos added below: Necklace winner Manider Bassi; Wyatt’s proprietors Kirk and Joni Keppler)

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The fundraising total also included everything from paddle-raisers who gave up to $10,000 each, to people who made a 3-year commitment by joining the WS Baby Giving Circle. And one member of that circle accepted a challenge thrown out at the end – to match every single gift given during the event.

33 SPONSORS for this year’s event! They included these WSB sponsors: Ventana Construction, Wyatt’s Jewelers, WEdesign, Budget Blinds, West Seattle Thriftway, Massage Envy, and West Seattle YMCA.

WHAT’S NEXT: This year’s Stuff the Bus diaper drive is set for July 24th, headquartered at HomeStreet Bank (WSB sponsor) in The Junction but with auxiliary events all over the county. … WS Baby’s Fall Masquerade cocktail benefit is September 23rd at Emerald City Trapeze.

YOU CAN VOLUNTEER AND/OR DONATE any time – go here to find out how. According to WS Baby e-mail sent during the tea, every gift in the next 24 hours will be matched.

P.S. We recorded video during today’s tea and will add clips this evening.

1 Reply to "VIDEO: 'These kids are our kids' - WestSide Baby CommuniTea focuses on interconnection, raises $600,000+"

  • Deborah Machon March 21, 2016 (5:40 pm)

    Love the tea! I miss volunteering for Westside Baby and helping local families. They do such great work. God bless the staff and volunteers for all they do.  xo Sure wish I had he funds to start a Westside Baby in Indianapolis.

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