Marshall University students are planning a baby shower to benefit Lily’s Place, a new nonprofit pediatric addiction recovery center in Huntington scheduled to open its doors later this month.
Organizers are asking students, faculty, staff and members of the community to bring specific items to the Memorial Student Center lobby, Thursday, Sept. 26, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Participants dropping off their donations can expect a festive baby shower atmosphere complete with cake, punch and all the trimmings, according to Elizabeth Appell Sheets, director of Marshall’s Office of Community Engagement.
Lily’s Place is in need of the following items: baby laundry detergent, baby powder with cornstarch, baby bath gel, baby lotion, wipes, newborn diapers, size one diapers, cloth diapers, pacifiers, latex and nonlatex gloves and file folders. The items should not be wrapped.
“We are asking everyone in the Marshall University community to donate at least one item from the list for Lily’s Place,” Sheets said. “The items are not expensive at all, so it should not be a burden for students. We just want Lily’s Place organizers to know that we support them and their efforts to provide special care to innocent infants suffering from prenatal drug exposure.”
The event is sponsored by Gamma Beta Phi, an academic honor and service organization for students with GPAs of 3.0 or higher; Alpha Phi Omega, a co-ed community service fraternity; as well as the Office of Community Engagement. The baby shower is in conjunction with Governor Tomblin’s Day to Serve, an annual effort to strengthen communities through volunteer service.
“We chose Lily’s Place because several students already have been heavily involved with helping the nonprofit get set up,” Sheets said. “It’s due to open its doors to babies in need on Sept. 29 and we want to do all we can to help.”
The mission of Lily’s Place is to provide immediate, short-term medical care to infants suffering from prenatal drug exposure and to provide education and support services to the families of substance-abused babies.
