Jacksonville’s Salem Lutheran Church invites parents the second Tuesday of the month
By Ben Cox
Photos/Ben Cox
Salem Lutheran Church in Jacksonville has been providing a program to new families in the Jacksonville area who need essentials for their infants and small children since January 2023.
Located at 223 East College Ave. in a small outbuilding near Salem Lutheran School’s playground, the Swaddling Clothes program is central to the church’s mission in following after the teachings of Jesus Christ from Matthew 19:14.
The program offers clothes, diapers, formula, bottles and other miscellaneous items for families who are expecting a baby or who have infants. The Swaddling Clothes store is open the second Tuesday of each month from 12:30-2:30 p.m.
Deaconess Linda Strubbe, the program’s advisor, says the mothers and mothers-to-be can shop in their store for a variety of items: “They can take one baby hygiene product per family. They usually take soap or shampoo. They can take up to 10 articles of clothing per child. We have some underwear, socks, shoes and other clothing items and outfits. They are allowed to take one big item per month as well. We have air mattresses, potty seats, car seats, pack and plays, and even a toddler bed. We do have things like blankets, sippy cups and crib sheets. There are women’s clothes, too, but we don’t have much of that.”
Strubbe says the items come through a variety of community and church congregation donations. The clothing serves children from 5T up to child size 12. Strubbe says the larger sizes were just added this year to help with some older children who are going to preschool and kindergarten.
Recently, the program has received funding from the Missouri Synod Lutheran Million Dollar Life matching grant program. Strubbe says the Salem Lutheran congregation recently raised $10,000 for the program and the aforementioned grant program provided a match. She says the matching grant program is spread out among several Missouri Synod affiliated Lutheran programs across the country.
The funds are helping Swaddling Clothes expand its space to meet the ever-increasing demands of the community, Strubbe says. “[In May], we served 27 families and there were 55 children involved.” Their June open day was expected to see even more families due to a “double diapers” event; Strubbe says that families were to get two packages of diapers and one package of baby wipes.
Strubbe says the plan is to have another special day during the August 12 shopping day for back to school, “We plan to be open four to seven that evening and assist people with older children.” The evening hours are to assist families who may need socks, shoes and other clothing items.
“We see the need there,” Strubbe adds, “This is to help supplement them going back to school because of how expensive it is.”
Salem’s Swaddling Clothes program also partners with a number of other Jacksonville organizations to help with referrals for those seeking counseling, healthcare, employment or other needs. Strubbe says there are no income requirements, “We do not require you to disclose any financial information. If you come in and say you need help, we’ll try and help you out.”
To find out more information about the Swaddling Clothes program or to donate gently used baby or toddler items, please call 217-243-3419 or email jacksonville@swaddlingclothes.org. Also, visit swaddlingclothes.org to find out further information.
