Duo opens boutique to help foster carers in need
A mother and daughter have started a clothing exchange to help foster carers and families in need.
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A MOTHER and daughter have started a clothing exchange to help foster carers and families in need.
Donna Tavella and Ashleigh Bax will open DASH Baby & Kids Exchange Boutique at Clayfield this Saturday, September 21.
Mrs Tavella, of Upper Kedron, has spent many years as a foster carer and in the past two has fostered 17 children from newborn to 12 years.
She said children often came into her care with nothing “except what was on their back”.
“A lot of us have kids just turn up and we have to make do,” she said.
“If you’re a carer who receives a child anywhere from zero to 15 years, it’s hard to have clothes stockpiled for them all.
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“It’s taken me two years to get almost the basics for every age group. That’s a lot of money to do it.
“I saw a post on Facebook where people were looking for clothes for kids in their care. We’re talking about the basics here.
“We (Ashleigh and I) talked about it and thought this has to be so different.”
So Mrs Tavella and her daughter decided to open a boutique.
Miss Bax, of Wavell Heights, said foster carers could take what they need for children currently in their care. This includes not only clothes, but toys, books and shoes.
“Most kids might turn up (to a foster home) with a backpack but it won’t have toys in it, it will be basic clothing items,” she said.
“When you’re a little kid toys mean the world to you. It’s rare that kids will go to a house with much.”
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The duo has been collecting clothes and other items for months and have been overwhelmed with donations from the community.
“We could never have started this without help from the community,” Miss Bax said.
“We are so grateful. Some donated clothes still have the tags on them.”
The boutique won’t just be for foster carers, though.
“Anyone who’s not a carer can exchange clothes and get an instore credit,” Miss Bax said.
“That will allow us to fund the foster carer side.”
Mrs Tavella said the boutique was “very much a family thing”
“I had my 19-year-old son doing some of the sorting. Everyone is excited about it.
“My husband and I have seven children, four foster children and our first granddaughter. I love that it’s a family thing, it’s amazing.”
Mrs Tavella said op shop clothing had been a big part of their lives.
“My mother worked for Lifeline and Aid for Blind and I grew up in op shop clothes,” she said.
“She’s passed now but she would be so proud of this.”
DASH Baby & Kids Exchange Boutique is located at Shop 1B, 139 Junction Rd, Clayfield.
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