To kick off the 2024 Advent season, Saint Mary’s student clubs Belles for Life and Fiat hosted a “Mother Mary Baby Shower” for mothers in need within the South Bend community. Fueled by virgin mimosas and dessert, students attended and built gift baskets for mothers in need.
Working in tandem with ecumenical chaplain Carrie Badertscher and her non-profit organization For the Good, the clubs first hosted a drive for supplies.
“We organized a baby registry and sent it out to alumnae, and then ... they shared it with their friends and so on, and then it just kind of took off,” senior Mary Bakke, Belles for Life committee chair, said.
The event was hosted on Wednesday evening from 7:30-8:30 p.m. in the Stapleton Lounge. Belles for Life and Fiat urged students to bring gifts and write notes of encouragement for the baskets. Donations, which were funneled through The Bump registry, included car seats, diapers, pacifiers, books, lotion, bibs, wipes and more.
“Our idea was in hope to get enough purchases that we’d get the free items from just signing up for it, and then it turned into something way bigger than we ever could imagine, which is great,” senior Sara Caniglia, Fiat vice president, said. “I think that’s the beauty of the Saint Mary’s community, is that we can come together and still support. Once you’re a Belle, you’re always a Belle, which I think is really beautiful. A lot of alumnae donated, parents and then some students. I feel like a lot of prayers were answered.”
Bakke and Caniglia worked together to plan and execute the baby shower, and they both knew Badertscher and her organization would be the right third party to incorporate into the event.
“We want to do this baby shower, but we want a speaker, so Pastor Carrie was the obvious choice,” Bakke said. “We know that she walks with moms, has walked with them through choosing life, but also gets to walk with them afterwards. So, we thought it would be perfect for her to come talk to us, but then also here’s someone that we can give these to.”
The event began with Badertscher giving a small talk about For The Good and a short sermon about Mary’s “yes” to God.
For The Good began just over 10 years ago when Badertscher and her husband moved into an under-resourced neighborhood in South Bend and recognized their neighbors were in need.
“We talked a contractor into building us a back room, and in the back room were two eight-foot tables with about 24 chairs. And then every night, at five o'clock, we would open the door for whoever didn't have dinner that night,” Badertscher said.
The nightly dinners soon turned into starting a food pantry, a diaper pantry and a laundry service. Though the Badertschers have since moved from their original home, they’ve continued to offer these free services to their community members. Baderstcher specifically focused on The Gathering Space during her talk, a weekly daycare space for single moms to visit with their children and one another.
“I went to a church downtown called First United Methodist Church, and I pitched the idea to their pastor about utilizing a large room they have on the second floor that wasn't being used as a day center for women and children. And so, on Tuesdays, we get there, about nine set up, and women come from 10 to three and just interact with one another. Children are running around. There's toys on the floor. There's people laughing and screaming, sometimes crying, but it's a place to be seen, talk about Jesus and talk about life.”
These mothers Badertscher sees every week will be among the recipients for the gift baskets made during the baby shower. Most of the material left will be put into the For the Good diaper pantry for other families to take. The rest will stay on Saint Mary’s campus for student mothers in need.
Senior Jocelyn Porter, president of Belles for Life, and Caniglia both expressed interest in making the baby shower event an annual tradition beyond their tenure.
“I think it would be beautiful to keep continuing on, especially as an Advent tradition … and to keep letting moms know that we want to walk with you,” Caniglia said. “It's not just about saying yes to life in the moment, but it's about saying ‘yes,’ as Pastor Carrie kept saying throughout the whole time, and if we're asking them to keep their pregnancy to that, we want to walk with you.”
After the event, Badertscher loaded the baskets and the remaining donations into her car. She will deliver them to each family during their weekly The Gathering Space.
“I think it's quite something when you can love a group so much, and then when someone else chooses to love them without knowing them, it just sits pretty special,” Badertscher said. “And so as I walk down the table and look at all of the things we've collected, I know exactly who all those gifts will go to … and I feel like it’s going to be like Christmas morning on Tuesday when I give one to each couple.”
