Pregnant and postpartum Soldiers were able to take advantage of gently used clothes and baby gadgets to help support their current Family needs.
“We planned this event around Mother’s Day since we wanted to honor the mothers on their first Mother’s Day,” Sgt. 1st Class Wallata Madison, a career counselor from Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division, said. “For a lot of the Soldiers, this is their first Mother’s Day, whether they just gave birth or the ones expecting for the first time.”
With the P3T program, it is more than just a physical fitness program for expecting and postpartum Soldiers.
“This program definitely helps with the support given, especially during Mother’s Day with their husbands deployed or gone,” Spc. Naimah Gonzalez, an automated logistic specialist from 4th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cav. Div., said. “This program is amazing and new mothers should take advantage of anything given to you, especially with opportunities like the baby items swap.”
New mothers were able to receive ideas on different items needed for their babies with the different donated items available.
“I was excited to see what other mothers have bought for their children, so it can give me ideas on what to get with different brands,” said Spc. Diaresa Martinez, a food service specialist from 1st Battalion, 9th Cav. Regt., 2nd BCT, 1st Cav. Div. “I haven’t bought anything for my baby yet since I don’t know the sex of my baby.”
There were lots of donations of more than just baby clothes from previous mothers to pass onto other mothers.
“In past years the baby clothes swap has been amazing. The Soldiers are always very generous with their donations,” Madison said. “It is very humbling to see so many people who are willing to donate to Soldiers who may need different things for their baby.”