Saint Martha's Baby Project receives $12,000 grant

Friday, Oct. 16, 2015

SALT LAKE CITY — Saint Martha’s Baby Project, under the umbrella of Holy Cross Ministries, received a $12,000 grant from the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation to give layettes to babies born into poverty.

Through the baby project, volunteers assemble about 300 layettes each year, and meet at least once a week to tie baby quilts. Volunteers also knit and crochet hats, booties and afghans, and sew baby clothes, bibs and burp cloths to put in the layettes along with diapers, lotion and other items; the value of the layettes is about $225.

“We all work at whatever we do best with a sense of joy,” said Eileen LaVallee, who has been president of the project for 14 years. “Volunteers keep me informed of where I can buy items we need at a considerable savings.” 

St. Martha’s Baby Project began in 1987 at a Saint Vincent de Paul Parish Women’s Guild meeting; the women wanted to make a positive statement against abortion and came together to provide layettes for mothers whose babies would be born into poverty. Corinne Powers, the first chairwoman, came up with the project’s slogan, “No child should come into this world unloved.” In its first year, the baby project gave away six layettes.

“When we started in 1987, all of our funding came from boutiques held in churches and homes; we also received donations from items sold such as the St. Martha’s teddy bears and other animals we used to sew and stuff,” LaVallee said. “When the economy declined, St. Martha’s was no longer able to raise enough money and we had to rely on grants.”  

Judith Puhr, a former J.E. Cosgriff Memorial School principal, began volunteering at the project as a grant writer in 2007; she had written grants for Kearns-Saint Ann School. “It just feels so good. Moms who receive the layettes send thank-you letters and they are so grateful,” she said.

This year, when members of the Eccles Foundation saw the layettes’ contents, “they gave us $2,000 more than in previous years,” Puhr said. “It’s hard to imagine being pregnant, living in poverty and having somebody give you a beautiful collection of brand new things. It means a lot to me to be doing something that is very powerful for life. I am so against abortion; I have the talent for [grants] from my training as an administrator, so why not? It is just a matter of networking.” 

Puhr has worked for more than five years with Maria Moynihan, St. John the Baptist Middle School religion teacher, and her sixth-graders, who each year collect baby supplies for St. Martha’s. 

Puhr came just when “we needed her, and she has been wonderful,” said LaVallee, adding that Puhr is also the treasurer and she sews blankets for the layettes. “We can’t operate without the Eccles Foundation grant money and other donations,” LaValle said. “We also have a women’s bridge club who gives us monetary donations and crocheted blankets.” 

Heading St. Martha’s is “the best job” LaVallee has ever had, she said. “I’ve always loved shopping for the best prices, so I’ve been in training for this job all my life. I know that I am doing the job that God has prepared for me. It is such an amazing feeling to know I am doing what I am supposed to do. I don’t think I will ever tire of this job – it’s always fun.”