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Mothers Against Brain Injury Tote Bag Program
Author: Ray Brasted | Saturday July 07, 2007
You Or Your Organization Can Contribute to the Tote Bag Program.
Mothers Against Brain Injury
Tote Bags Offer Help
During Time of Crisis
There is a lot of information about Mothers Against Brain Injury (MABI) that you will learn from this article, but if you want to understand the meaning of the work being done, visit their web site (listed at the end of this report) and read the accounts from the parents of children who have sustained a traumatic brain injury.
And if you have been among most of us who have wondered what one person, or even three, can do, you likely will not ask yourself that question after learning more about MABI. As one professional in the field of brain injury rehabilitation put it, "I can't believe none of us ever thought of it before." The answer might be that you just had to be there.
"There" is the waiting room of a trauma care unit where you have been summoned from your home by authorities who tell you that your child has been injured. It is where you wait for hours to find out what is going on and it is where you will spend many days and nights hoping and praying that your child will live. And if he or she does survive, that they will have a full, meaningful life ahead of them.
"There" is where you realize that, since the moment you ran from your home, you haven't taken a shower, brushed your teeth or even learned what the term brain injury means. Tracy East-Porter, of Jacksonville, FL, shared those experiences as she and two other mothers sat waiting for the latest word on their children, all being treated at the Shands Trauma Center and PICU as a result of a tragic coincidence of unrelated accidents. All the kids went to the same school so the parents had even more in common.
East-Porter began bringing small tubes of toothpaste and hotel sized bar soap from her travels in an RV to Shands and leaving them at the nurses station.
"About a year after the accident we found we had to explain what brain injury was to others. We provided a lot of education," East-Porter told the Voice. As they continued to live with the changes in their lives, the seed of an idea formed to help make the experience just a little bit less difficult for others.
The three women came to the conclusion that other parents who came to be in the same situation should be provided with information and emergency items to get them through the first few traumatic days. Today East-Porter energetically carries on the program with support from individuals, companies and law firms such as Toral Garcia Pineyro & Franz, P.A.
The idea of a tote bag filled with necessary items developed after the mothers had begun delivering small bags of personal toiletry items that they wished they had while in the waiting room. Soon friends and family donated items and more were purchased at discount stores and drugstores.
Between Dec. 2004 and April 2005, the response from the staff at Shands and the recipients was overwhelmingly positive and Mothers Against Brain Injury (MABI) was incorporated in May of 2005.
Today the 501c3 nonprofit corporation continues to grow and tote bags are now available in all 21 trauma centers in Florida. Inside are the following items: Journal and Pen; Prepaid Calling Card; Business Card organizer; personal toiletries; pillow & blanket; books of inspiration and stories from MABI; snacks.
The organization hopes to keep growing and there have been fundraisers and donations from individuals and corporations. The average tote bag costs about $35 and MABI will be seeking grant funds and more corporate support. Eventually East-Porter envisions the program growing to other states.
Writes East-Porter in a letter on the web site: "We have seen hearts and checkbooks open up to our cause and increasingly the donations are coming from people who have had experiences with someone they know who has sustained a brain injury."
Ed. Note: This article first ran in September of 2007. This is an updated version of the article. To learn more visit www.mabii.org (Note, under the navigation bar scroll to recipient stories to learn about how the tote bags have helped individuals.)
For information on how you can support MABI's efforts, write contact@mabii.org or contact Tracy East-Porter at 904-657-9238. To learn more about brain injury visit the Florida Brain Injury Association web site at www.biaf.org. The national web site is at www.biausa.org.
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