Northern Health’s Volunteer Raffle

June 12, 2020

Northern Health’s Volunteer Raffle is on once again! Funds raised will go towards helping our most precious and vulnerable babies through the purchase of a special medication fridge for our Maternity and Special Care Units to store breast milk.

Michelle Morrow, Nurse Unit Manager for Maternity, says, “Northern Health is committed to supporting women with achieving breastfeeding for their infants. Our dedicated staff assist following the birth of every baby at Northern Health, and in the event problems arise, our specialist lactation consultants are here to advise. The importance of expressed breast milk has been well researched and we encourage women to express and utilise our storage facilities where possible. Our new breastfeeding fridge will ensure that the milk is stored safely and securely for future feeds.”

Ticket purchases for the raffle are a little different due to COVID-19, and while you would normally see our smiling volunteers selling tickets in our foyers, this year raffle ticket purchases have moved online.

“As our volunteers cannot be here in person to sell raffle tickets, they would be chuffed to know that their fundraising raffles are being supported by staff.  We can’t wait to have our volunteers back on site to do all the great things they do that make a huge difference to our health service,” said Henni Wade, Manager, Volunteers Services.

Maureen Fairbrother is one of the volunteers who helps out in the Special Care Nursery. One of her roles is to cuddle babies when they are unsettled. Volunteer Cuddlers are there to assist in providing essential touch, sensory stimulation and to help soothe babies. Most of the time Maureen is called upon to provide a comforting cuddle when parents are unable to be there. Maureen is our baby whisperer!. This photo was taken in 2019.

There are some great prizes –with the first prize being a Mother and Baby gift basket proudly donated by Coolkidz, valued at $575.

We encourage our staff and community to support our volunteers and our health service by purchasing a ticket for their current raffle!

Tickets are just $5 each, and you can purchase tickets here: https://www.rafflelink.com.au/northernhealthraffle.

Adds Michelle, “Our maternity unit staff are passionate about providing the best patient experience for each of our new and returning families. We look forward to our new breastfeeding fridge and are very grateful to our volunteers and Northern Health Foundation for this initiative.”

Featured picture shows (from L to R): Michelle Morrow, Nurse Unit Manager for Maternity, with mum Natalie Rule and baby Emma and Debra, PSA.