We have a lot to celebrate as summer 2015 comes to a close at Nurture. We can’t thank you enough for spreading the word about RVA Breastfeeds, the social media campaign we supported along with other members of the Richmond Health Action Alliance. During this campaign, which took place during World Breastfeeding Week, August 1 – 7, we placed life-sized cutouts of breastfeeding women and families in over 30 locations throughout the city. Volunteers accompanying the cutouts answered questions about breastfeeding and distributed over 1700 informational pieces to the public.
RVA Breastfeeds received just shy of 100,000 engagements on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and extensive media coverage (click here for a campaign summary). Even more important, every Facebook post, tweet, or image represents a face-to-face conversation about breastfeeding with citizens of our fair city. The barriers to successful breastfeeding are multiple and complex. We hope RVA Breastfeeds started a conversation that will move RVA toward becoming known far and wide as a breastfeeding friendly community.
Looking back/Looking forward:
As we gear up for fall, we’ve been looking back at where we’ve been and planning for the future. Since receiving our 501(c)3 in September 2103, Nurture has:
- Created the city’s only donation based prenatal and postnatal yoga classes
- Hosted two professional development programs for perinatal care providers that received glowing reviews
- Collaborated with other maternal/infant health organizations to create highly visible community engagement projects to advocate for community support for breastfeeding
This fall we will partner with the VCU School of Nursing on a pilot research study exploring the use of prenatal yoga as an intervention for obesity among low-income African-American and Hispanic women. In September we’ll also launch a breastfeeding support group in Richmond’s Northside.
Next up: A space of our own
Our ultimate goal has always been to create a center for childbearing families that provides evidence-based childbirth classes, breastfeeding and perinatal support groups and services, and fitness programming that is accessible to families at all income levels in our community. The center would also serve as a focal point for our outreach and advocacy activities.
Our board members are actively looking for a space. Rent and utilities for the kind of space we’re looking for – 1000 -1500 square feet on or near a bus line within the city limits of Richmond – run approximately $18,000 a year. We can’t do this alone. Here is where you come in.
Take our Amazing Raise video viral and help Nurture win $1500!
All this requires is: click, like, and share our video with everyone you know between now and September 11.
Help us raise a roof for Nurture!
The Amazing Raise is just three weeks away. Help us raise a roof for Nurture in 2016 by participating in this fundraising marathon that starts at 6 am September 16. Last year you helped us raise $4402 in just 36 hours, and catapulted us into the top 25 small nonprofits in terms of individual donations. Help us reach this year’s goal of $18,000, enough to secure our rent for a year and enable us to focus our energies on creating outstanding programming and advocacy for childbearing families. In the coming weeks, and especially during the Amazing Raise, there will be many more ways you can leverage your support into funding for Nurture. We’ll share more tips in the weeks to come.
Thank you so much for your support. We could not have gotten to where we are without you.
See you in September!
