frontlines

Putting Old Baby
Gear To Good Use

Nicole Goodman
JN Intern

L

ainie Roth of Southfield has
turned her basement into a
makeshift warehouse for all
things baby.
After moving here from Passaic,
N.J., last year, Roth saw an opportu-
nity to take a successful organization
she had seen in Passaic and bring it to
Detroit's Jewish community.
When her first daughter, Shayna, now
15 months, was born in Passaic, she
borrowed a baby carrier from the orga-
nization there and realized the amazing
things they were doing. Roth also has a
daughter Adina, who is 2 months old.
The family attends Ahavas Olam in
Southfield.
Detroit Baby Drive (DBD) is a dona-
tion and lending program for baby items
— high chairs, strollers, play yards and
more — within the Jewish community.
"I think it gives a sense of community,
v'ahavta l'reacha kamocha, love your
neighbor like yourself' Roth says. "Other
Jewish people are an extension of us, and
we would want other people to benefit
from these things and enjoy them the
way that we did:'
DBD currently operates from Roth's
basement, with the help of some of her
friends, including Leslie Ungar, Ariella
Rubin, Jessica Goodwin and Marianna
Feldman, all of Southfield. On average,

Roth spends approximately 15-20 hours
a week on DBD. The group accepts
donation drop-offs as well as going to
pick-up donations; aiming to make the
donation process as easy as possible.
"People are very excited an organiza-
tion [like this] exists:' says Roth, who
has run DBD since last August. "[It's]
amazing how people are so thrilled to
donate; they feel great knowing that
someone in their community, even if
they don't know them, is receiving the
donations:'
In addition to providing items for
people to keep, DBD also provides the
Bubbe Basics Bundle, a free service that
loans baby items to grandparents or oth-
ers who have younger family members or
friends coming to visit, and who do not
need to keep the baby items for a long
period of time.
Roth was inspired to do this after hear-
ing about businesses in Florida that made
enormous profits from rental services of
baby items, and realizing that many of
the people calling about receiving items
from DBD only needed the items short-
term. Although this lending service is
free, Roth says many give a donation
after receiving one.
One such recipient of a Bubbe Basics
Bundle was Nacha Leaf of Oak Park. As
Passover neared this year, she had eight
grandkids under age 5 coming to stay
with her — four had been born since
Rosh Hashanah. She put out multiple

JN CONTENTS

Lainie Roth's basement houses
Detroit Baby Drive, a lending and
donation organization of baby items.

Facebook messages and calls to her friends
trying to find enough equipment for all
her grandkids to stay comfortably, and was
eventually referred to DBD and Roth.
"Lainie [is doing] gemach gemilut
chasadim, 'acts of kindess",' Leaf says. "I
sent my kids to go pick up the stuff and
they came back with rave reviews. It left
such an impact:'
Roth hopes to expand DBD and even-
tually turn it into the go-to organization
for baby items in Metro Detroit, while still
retaining the cozy, family-run feeling.
"Raising a family is a really expensive
endeavor; Roth says. "It's nice if we can
take away the financial burden so people
can focus on the more important things:'
Detroit Baby Drive currently is accept-
ing donations of baby items and/or
monetary donations as well as taking
requests to receive baby items. If you
would like to arrange a pick-up or drop-
off, or make a request to receive baby
items, email detroitbabydrive@gmail.
com. For more information, go to www.
detroitbabydrive.com or call director
Lainie Roth at (917)-684-4347.

Imagine a
World Without
Hate

Gender

n. The socially-defined
rules and roles for womer
and men in a society.

Is this toy for a boy or girl?
Why?

How do stereotypes limit
children's choices? What
can you do to broaden
them?

❑

thcJEWISHNEWS

June 13-June 19, 2013 I 5-11 Tammuz 5773 I Vol. CXLIII, No. 19

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Shabbat Lights

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