Last Sunday, on one of those pristine summer afternoons when the temptation is to bag everything and do something wildly self-indulgent, 50 women opted to help Newborns in Need.
Carrying boxes and bags filled with diapers, formula, onesies — even car seats, strollers and cribs — they arrived at Glory Weisberg’s home in unincorporated Arapahoe County to spend a pleasant couple of hours socializing over food prepared by Weisberg and co-hostesses Ryta Sondergard, Debra Pain and Lyn Schaffer and paying close attention as representatives from Denver Health Medical Center briefed them on the important need they were helping fill.
“You have no idea what these gifts mean to our moms,” said Denver Health pediatrician Sharon Langendoerfer. “Because they are all living at or below the poverty level, often through no fault of their own, your generosity represents the difference between having a few new things for their baby instead of no things for their baby.”
The moms, Langendoerfer added, are “incredibly grateful” and often moved to tears when a hospital volunteer hands them a little bassinette filled with things they’d never be able to afford on their own.
In a video message, Denver Health’s chief executive, Dr. Patricia Gabow, said: “These gifts enable us to let every one of our babies go home with something they need.”
“I am thrilled beyond words,” Weisberg said as she surveyed her packed living room. “It really feels good to know we’re helping new lives get off to a better start.”
And when the last cupcake and tea sandwich had been cleared from the buffet table in Weisberg’s dining room, all that was left was the need for a truck. A big one to transport all of the items to Denver Health.
In addition to the gifts brought by folks including Sharon Magness Blake, Dr. Bonita Carson, Jean Galloway, Lorraine Salazar, Marit Rosacci, Jan Hammond, Gretchen Pope, Melly Kinnard and Trisha Hood, checks totaling $6,200 were sent by invitees who could not attend.
That money, Langendoerfer said, will be used by Denver Health volunteers, “to shop all the sales” in an effort to obtain as many things as possible for the estimated 4,000 babies born there each year.
The University of Phoenix underwrote the day’s expenses, and dispatched Tammy Fernandez to the shower with a $2,000 check to buy additional things for Newborns in Need.
Frances Owens, who’d hosted the inaugural Newborns in Need shower when she was first lady of Colorado, was there too, as was Saks Fifth Avenue fashion director Cynthia Petrus, who encouraged everyone to attend the Oct. 15 Keys to the Cure luncheon and fashion show that also benefits Denver Health; Paula Herzmark, executive director of the Denver Health Foundation; and Robin Engleberg, the Newborns in Need program director.
Other guests were Gayle Novak, Lani Hood, Joyce Foster, state Rep. Nancy Spence, Glenda Richter, Nancy Koontz, Sandee Walling, Jeanne Shannon, Dianne Bartlett, Lisa Kelin, Barbara Ulrich and Louise Richardson.
Society editor Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com; also,
