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Want To Help Refugees? 33rd Ward Collecting Baby Carriers to Send Overseas

By Patty Wetli | November 23, 2015 9:58am
 The 33rd Ward is partnering with Carry the Future, which distributes baby carriers to refugees.
The 33rd Ward is partnering with Carry the Future, which distributes baby carriers to refugees.
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Facebook/Carry the Future

IRVING PARK — For Chicagoans watching the refugee crisis unfold on their television screens and wondering how to help from thousands of miles away, here's an easy answer: donate a baby carrier.

The 33rd Ward is serving as a drop-off point for Carry the Future, a charitable organization that distributes the carriers to refugee families as they enter Europe.

According to Carry the Future's website: "Refugees can end up walking hundreds of miles to their asylum destinations. They desperately need a safer, more comfortable way to carry their babies and toddlers."

The organization's volunteers meet refugees at ports of entry, hand-deliver the carriers, fit them and instruct parents on their use.

"We are already getting reports of refugees making it safely to Germany wearing their babies, so we know it's working!" Carry the Future posted to its Facebook page.

Donated carriers should be new or gently use, soft-structured with clasps or harnesses only — no wraps or slings.

Worn and/or faded carriers are acceptable, but "please no broken or recalled ones," according to Carry the Future.

If the carrier has a pocket, donors can also fill it with items such as plush toys; baby or toddler socks, hats or mittens; high-protein snacks; or electrolyte or vitamin packets.

Drop off carriers at the 33rd Ward office, 3001 W. Irving Park Road.

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