Priscilla Gradillas and Christopher Collins with their four-day-old baby girl Anela Marie
Felipe Araya and Daniela Parra
Karen Baker
On May 15, Armed Forces Day, the Military Baby Shower Group successfully completed their mission of supplying 30 families (31 babies) with everything they would need to welcome their newest patriots into the world. COVID and social distancing made this annual baby shower event a little more difficult, but it was nothing the ambitious, energetic, and creative women from the Green Valley community couldn’t overcome. Twenty families chose to attend the baby shower festivities in person, receiving their gifts of laundry baskets filled with handmade items, quilts, diapers, clothes, diaper bags, mommy bags, and toys, in addition to strollers, high chairs, and pack ‘n plays. Another ten families, who were close to their due dates and more conservative with their social distancing, scheduled drive-up times to pick up their numerous gifts.
The baby shower group received substantial discounts from the Target and Burlington stores in Tucson and generous donations from The White Elephant (Green Valley), the Diaper Bank of Southern AZ, the Q&A Group LLC (Tucson), the Quilt Covey, and the Lady Putters (in Quail Creek). The Baby Shower Group would like to thank those residents in the Quail Creek and Green Valley/Sahuarita communities and the generous volunteers and donors who handmade beautiful baby items. The collective labor of love was greatly appreciated by the expectant families who received the beautiful blankets, booties, hats, and clothes. We are grateful for the community’s help, support, and encouragement in this worthy endeavor.
This 10th annual event marks a year of big change for this proud 28-member committee, who will now be partnering and working with Operation Homefront. This is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit, whose mission is to build strong, stable, and secure military families, so they can thrive and not simply struggle to get by in the communities they have worked so hard to protect. Departing from The Women of Quail Creek, whose board voted to no longer support this committee, these women have found a strong, supportive organization to enable them to show their appreciation, gratitude, and commitment to our military community and all that they do on our behalf. Working with this non-profit, these women will be able to expand their scope of activities and provide ongoing support to our military families throughout the entire year.
Continuing the strong, supportive, and working relationship developed with Mikie Hoeye, Airmen and Family Readiness manager, and her team at the 162nd Air National Guard base, this group of ladies will continue to provide an annual baby shower for expectant Air and Army National Guard families. A big shout out and huge thanks to the many people and organizations that contributed and supported this effort.