To benefit our littlest Lobos, The University of New Mexico Staff Council HSC Staff Committee sponsored a donation drive for UNMH's Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NBICU).
The UNMH NBICU averages 50 admissions each month and the average admission time can be anywhere from a few days to several months. Finding normalcy in the NBICU can be difficult for families but one thing parents can do to help is to dress their newborns and read to them. This allows the parents to bond more closely with their babies.
Requested items for donation were new preemie and newborn size onesies, newborn size HALO SleepSacks or SwaddleMe and infant/children’s board books. The unit would like to send each family home with a SleepSack/SwaddleMe to help reduce the risk of SIDS.
The committee organizing the donation drive strongly feels that as Health Sciences Center employees it is good for us to help give back to the New Mexico community. The charge of the Staff Council Health Sciences Staff Committee is: “…collaboratively develops and implements activities, initiatives, and proposals…and enhances the visibility and recognition of the important role staff play in the overall success of the Health Sciences Center.”
Staff Council has a long tradition of community service and each year also sponsors a “Read to Me” book drive in collaboration with Reading Albuquerque and the Albuquerque Business Education Compact’s Read to Me program. Books are then distributed to organizations such as Peanut Butter and Jelly Family Services. The “Happy Tails” donation drive is Staff Council’s most popular community service event and each year countless items are donated for the homeless dogs and cats at the Animal Humane Association of New Mexico.