Baby-supply charity to open second location near Surrey
Posted February 20, 2025 2:28 pm.
Last Updated February 20, 2025 2:35 pm.
A Vancouver-based baby-supply charity will open a new location between Langley and Surrey Saturday.
BabyGoRound, a charity that provides critical gear like car seats, cribs and strollers to low-income families says it was inspired to open another location in Cloverdale after it saw a “dramatic surge in demand” from communities outside Vancouver.
Executive director Meghan Neufeld says thousands of low-income parents in the Lower Mainland struggle to get the supplies they need to support a baby.
“These families face agonizing stress and anxiety and because they’re just unable to afford the critical essentials that they need to safely and confidently care for their babies… and we provide all of these items for free,” she explained.
Most of BabyGoRound’s clients, Neufeld says, make $40,000 or less per year and face other challenges like unemployment, single parenthood, or being new to Canada.
She says government grants help the charity purchase items it isn’t allowed to distribute in a ‘gently-used’ condition, but also relies on donations from families that have outgrown items that have already been loved.
Neufeld says the decision to expand comes after years of research and planning, discovering that of BabyGoRound’s 2,000 clients in 2024, about 40 per cent came from the eastern part of the Lower Mainland.
“We did focus groups and surveys to really understand what the best way to address program access, and transportation barriers. ‘How do we get our service to the families who are having trouble accessing us?’ and opening a second location was by far the preferred method,” said Neufeld.
Donations can be made on the charity’s website, and Neufeld is urging local families to drop off gently-used baby gear at the new location, starting Saturday, Feb. 22, at #105 17670 65A Avenue in Cloverdale between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
She says the charity anticipates “a large increase over the next year” in the number of families it can help.
