Our Charitable Work
In our world… a Basically Babies “Layette” is 
a complete first-year baby wardrobe! It is a large gift, beautifully packaged, scrupulously clean, appropriately-sized and made specifically for baby boys or baby girls that are living in situations of extreme need. It contains approximately 120 items sized from 0-24 months. The layettes are made up of both new and gently used items. A Layette is a gift intended to communicate worth, value, respect and dignity to each family, while providing for wardrobe and baby supply essentials. We want each layette to be a beautiful gift that anyone would be thrilled to receive, not just a basket full of used clothing. All included items are carefully checked to ensure quality and presentation is excellent and that they are scrupulously clean, mended and pressed. Key to our program is our commitment to re-using, reducing, recycling and re-purposing baby items!
Our charitable Layette Program addresses the one-time need of quality outfitting for infants. This particular need comes at a time of great stress, both financial and emotional, in the lives of people already struggling to make ends meet. The arrival of a newborn, often a source of joy to those in a more stable position, is sometimes seen as just one more set of demands to be met by parents who already have difficulty meeting their own needs. The baskets we provide to families-in-need reach people at a very deep level. The parents who receive them may be working through addiction issues, struggling to get off a life on the streets, escaping abusive situations, trying to cope as refugees and immigrants to Canada, or may still be children themselves. Whatever the circumstance, they are in a position where they are currently unable to provide for their newborn. In these situations, they often do not feel as though their own lives are worth very much. Receiving a layette from Basically Babies at a time of great stress and need communicates that the community of Edmonton cares about this family, and that each family member has a great deal of worth and value. The high quality of the basket contents, and the care and attention that are so obvious in the layette preparation demonstrate the respect and dignity that are so necessary for these families to feel hopeful about their futures.
The layettes are distributed through a network of partnering agencies that are working with these families on a long-term basis. One of our partnering organizations will identify a family that is in extreme need and request a layette for them. To see a list of our partnering organizations, please click here.
To view a short video about the work of Basically Babies, please view here.
