Happy Mother’s Day to all the mommas, grand mommas and all the momma figures in your life! I’m excited to highlight one of the most inspiring moms I’ve ever met for my first-ever episode of “Shots of Inspiration.”
WHAT ARE SHOTS OF INSPIRATION?
The world is a crazy place… and you’re busy… so let me curate short, snackable, inspiring shots of inspiration straight into your inbox or social feed.
Each surprise will be unique.
It might be a trending kind act, something purdy, fun or a story about a Go Inspire Go everyday hero that will activate the hero in you.
Meet Lisa…
Who: Lisa Klein, founder and executive director of Loved Twice
What: Since 2005, Lisa Klein and her volunteers have packed more than 15,000 boutique-style boxes — filled with booties, bibs and even books for kids in need. Loved Twice partners with more than 150 hospitals, prenatal clinics, family shelters and safe homes across the U.S. The total value of the garments she’s distributed to newborns-in-need: a whopping $4 million and counting!
Her mission: Loved Twice is a “nonprofit organization clothing newborns in need with quality reused baby clothing for the first year of life. We collect gently-used baby clothes, sort these precious garments into boy and girl wardrobes-in-a-box, and distribute them exclusively through social workers in hospitals, shelters, and clinics. Ours is a simple solution that supports disadvantaged babies while reusing thousands of onesies, swaddling blankets, and babywear that would otherwise end up in landfills. Loved Twice believes every newborn girl and boy deserves to have clothes for their first year of life — one of life’s basic necessities.”
Where: Based in Oakland, Calif., Loved Twice’s projects impact newborns-in-need nationwide.
When: Started in 2005
Why: During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Lisa wanted to activate her superpower. Because she had a one-year-old at the time, she wasn’t able to go help in person. Instead, she went on Craigslist to see what people affected by the disaster needed. She discovered moms were in desperate need of baby clothes. #Pow! She asked friends on Facebook to give her baby clothes. 200 pounds of clothing showed up on her porch in four days. She now has warehouse space and a couple dozen volunteers to help sort and pack donations.
How: Inspired to use your power to help? Take action: You can donate clothes, time, money, host a baby clothing drive or do a fundraiser for lovedtwice.org.
More info: I met Lisa in 2009 after hearing about her from a student I was teaching at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. At the time, Lisa was dealing with growing heaps of clothes arriving at her home, but not enough hands to process them. She felt overwhelmed and wanted to give up. Funny how life connects you to people just at the right time. She told me, “When you called me and wanted to feature me on your website (Go Inspire Go), I thought, ‘Wow, you see value in my story.’ ” She said the connection made her realize how important her cause was. Our story helped inspire a dozen new volunteers to join Twice Loved. You can read the original Go Inspire Go blog here.
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