The Buggy Bunch in Action:
See the Impact, Hear the Stories

Who We Are: The Heart Behind The Buggy Bunch
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Good. Okay? When mom says we started attending programming at the buggy bunch with our daughter in 2021 and since then, I can’t truly, I can truly attest that it has changed our lives. We finally found a place the whole family can go for our daughter to learn, play and make friends. We’ve made a meaningful we’ve made meaningful connections with other like minded parents who have given remarkable support on this parenting journey. It is a journey isn our little family has also been able to foster a more meaningful relationship with Christ through these connections from the team that makes the programming possible to the parents and the children who attend, we’re so grateful for the buggy bunch and what is done for our family. And then another mom says, I love the Bible studies and group of amazing women at the buggy bunch. I am forever grateful for the impact every single woman there has made on my life. From the moment I started, my life was forever changed. I was going through some of the most trying times in my life and learning how to be a single mom of two. The devil tried to bring me down every chance he could get, but I finally had been able to find peace and happiness with who I am and who God wants me to be. And God is so good and I’m leaping into the life he wants me to live, not the life I want to live.
Before I share this last testimony, I need to give a little bit of background. We do occasionally accept donations of specific children’s items when we know of a mom in need, but we don’t have a lot of storage space, even though we have a new, incredible building, and so we cannot keep inventory. However, she’s going to mention being given an item that was a very specific need for her and her family. We got an email one day from somebody completely unconnected to TBB asking if we needed a piece of medical equipment. We have never gotten this request before, and diapers, wipes, formula, the occasional car seat, stroller, sure all day long, but this particular piece of equipment never here’s her story. I came to find the buggy bunch as a resource for moms when I had my son in 2020 let me tell you, though during the pandemic, it was my lifeline. Meeting monthly with April for the diaper closet was so much more than being given diapers, wipes and sometimes food or laundry detergent, I felt like I was being mentored, as well as had somebody I trusted who I could confide in. In the fall of 2020, I began to participate in the women’s Bible study. Having a place to get together with local women who all share a love for Christ is something so rare in this day and age. When these women speak, I take in so much, and I continue to participate in their Bible studies to this day, the buggy bunch also impacted my family’s life by thinking of us when they were donated a hyperbaric chamber, some of the staff knew I was going to a place for this very treatment for my toddlers brain injury, and they gifted it to us. Remember, this is an $8,000 piece of medical equipment, and this girl is a single mom. She goes on to say they are an incredible place. Our Community, and I’m so grateful to have found out about them.
And I just want to say thank you pathway church for your continued support of this ministry that is so dear to my heart, amen, and for giving me the opportunity to come up and share
with you today. Amen.
It’s good. So obviously there’s, there’s a lot to take in, and so we just want to say thank you for for giving to missions. And just so you know you can always give at pathway, vb.com/missions, and it’s just good. So you know, one of the organizations we support, and you guys are part of that. So we’re grateful. Jen and Jamie, thank you for what you guys do. Thank you for being willing to share. I want to pray over you and pray over the ministry as God continues to use you and many others through this to reach, as you said, these testimonies of these single moms and others.
So let’s pray, Dear Heavenly Father, we are grateful to hear those stories. It can’t help but tug on the heart strings. Lord, we pray for this ministry. We pray over the buggy bunch. We pray over that new building right now, in the name of Jesus, right there on that corner. Lord, as she said, the pink building. Lord, we just pray that that place becomes a shining light into the darkness. And that shining light is You, Jesus. Everyone’s pointed back to you. Yup, they’re going to get diapers. They’re going to get formula or an $8,000 machine to help. But Lord, they’re going to get Jesus, and that’s why we support this ministry. We’re grateful for Jen and Jamie and many others that make this ministry happen. May we do our part, whatever that looks like, if it’s to give, to give, if it’s to just go and have a conversation today, and that’s where it starts. Then we pray for that. So Lord, use us however you see fit as well. Thank you for this time. We just give the Buggy Bunch to you right now in Jesus name, amen.
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The buggy bunch is family. The
buggy bunch is really a community. For me, the buggy bunch is a community of women and fathers. Also, it’s a community of where you belong. It’s a community where you feel accepted. It’s a community where Christ is the center.
The buggy bunch is this village of people that surround you and help you and take care of you in ways they never knew you needed. They also are some of the best friends you could ever imagine to have.
We actually recently moved here last year, and I stumbled upon the buggy bunch by accident because I was looking for a toddler Baby Class, and it led me to this address. And it wasn’t until we got here that I was so surprised and shocked to see that there was a blooming community of mothers. To my surprise, all the things that they offered, including Bible study classes like boxing courses and toddler classes that you could bring your little one to do sensory play. And I was really just stunned and signed up for as many classes that I can.
As a mom, I feel so blessed to have found the buggy bunch. Five years ago, it started as a Chick fil A meet up once a week. I kept to myself, but to continue to go because my daughter loved it. Fast forward a few years, and now it’s a mom of four, and we spend multiple days a week at the Family Center. I have met some of my best friends, and my kids have made amazing friends as well. I knew my kids loved the buggy bunch, but I didn’t realize how much I loved and felt supported by them until last August. My husband and I lost our fourth child. August 27 after I received the phone call from my dad to come home immediately, the next person I spoke to was Jen. She was the first person I thought to reach out to the buggy bunch was such a huge support for my family and one of the toughest times of our life, they brought us food, toys for the kids multiple times, offered to open the play space for the kids to just come and play and feel a sense of normalcy. I would have never found this sense of community and support if I didn’t decide to join a Chick fil A meet up five years ago, the ladies at the buggy bunch have become family. My kids run into Leslie’s office just about every day for a hug and a sticker. They help Brittany work at her computer, and they know as soon as they enter into the play space, Miss Jen will be there with hugs. The buggy bunch is a safe place. It’s a home away from home. You
the buggy bunch has supported me in so many ways. My first, my first experience with this, this organization has been, it’s really, let me cry.
I had an army, really, truly, an army of women praying for me before I stepped foot in these doors. They knew who I was, and they prayed for my children. They prayed for me. They prayed for my marriage.
We came to the buggy bunch about two years ago, in 2022 that was like in the middle of the pandemic, and I was, I had just had my third kid, and during my pregnancy with my third child, Nyla, I went through, I suffered through depression, and so once I had her, I was, I was better, and I just felt like I had to find my community. I had to find. By a group of people that would support me and just friends. I didn’t have any friends at the time. One
of the classes that really has been a blessing to me is the Bible study, the women’s Bible study that they have here for the mom. It’s been such a blessing for myself and for my family. I found a home from Sue who is part of the buggy bunch. I have my kitchen table, which was Jen’s, my kids. Whole bedroom set was from the buggy bunch. It’s more than just, you know, meeting up with someone once a week. It is really life long friendships. And if you ever need something, if they can’t help you, they more than likely will find someone to help you. And that’s more than I can say for people I’ve known for decades in my life, that these women here at drop a hat would be willing to help you or find someone to help you.
You. I’ve lived on the generosity of other people for several years. In some ways I still am, but in and out of the hospital, so much and and being prayed for by the Bucky bunch the ladies here i i found so much support. And the reason they can do what they do is because of generous donors like you and and for those thinking about donating, I that’s just a tiny little glimpse these stories. Well, if you want to partner with us, we are excited because there’s so much that that can happen in addition to what we’re already doing, but it’s it’s just something that we couldn’t do without you and and the impact is is far beyond what you can know. And we hope you are encouraged just by the little glimpse into what what we can accomplish together. You’re helping
moms arrive.
People don’t understand. Even before I was a mom, I didn’t understand how isolated moms fail when they’re especially I think when their children are really, really young, we’re giving out so much. And as you help moms thrive the whole family, but a lot of moms after they have their kids, they struggle with postpartum depression, and so when you find a community like a buggy bunch that will help lift that, so you’re helping Moms be the best that they can be, when you partner with buggy bunch and you give to buggy bunch, and it matters, family matters. Family is under attack. I mean, it’s just so obvious, right in our society. So when you give to the family, you give to people, you give to moms, you give to dads, you give to children, that children can be reared up in God and children can be reared up in an environment where moms are thriving, so that the children are thriving, also the
dedication that they have, not only for like to make sure that everything function well, to make sure that the place is tidy up, to make sure that there’s toys available for every child that comes to play. Yes, like you. I yeah, I believe like when you’re saying yes to give to this organization, you are planting a seed of where mother can come and be encouraged and be empowered as moms and and be loved on and cared for and prayed for when you say yes to supporting an organization like the buggy bunch you are giving to a community of mothers and families and children who are looking to belong.
We are not meant to do it alone,
no matter where you’ve been, no matter your story, no
matter who you are, no matter what’s been done to you, no matter what you believe, no matter what you’ve done, you belong
with us. You belong with us. You belong with us.
You belong with us. You belong with us.
You belong with us. You belong with us. You
The Buggy Bunch Family Center: A Haven for Moms & Families
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Since opening our doors to the public in June of 2021 the Buggy Bunch Family Center has become a vital resource in Indian River County in 2022 alone, we served over 3700 men, women, and children in our programming, welcoming as many as 10 to 15 new families each week and providing more than 27,000 diapers to families in need. The Buggy Bunch Family Center is more than brick and mortar. It is 6000 square feet of hope. It is a place where mothers and their families come each day for transformation, support, and community. A place where God’s love is shared boldly and consistently. The Buggy Bunch is the place for every mother and her family.
If you’re a mom like, this, place is like a safe haven just to come and like, like, let your kids be. And I don’t know, I feel like all the workers here are amazing, and they’re personable. It has given us a sense of like, community, and friends. My kids have made friends, and I’ve made friends who brought us closer to other people in the community. We probably wouldn’t have known.
It’s a judgment-free zone, like you can just come in here. No one’s gonna be like, Oh, look what she’s wearing, look how she talks, look how you know, and they’re here. They’ll love you. They’ll tell you what, like, they’ll give you advice on tips, and they just give you, like, any resources that you need. So I really love that about it.
I love that I can come here and take the girls, and then I can meet, and talk to some of my mom friends. I mean, I came here, I really didn’t have any mom friends. I knew we coming to the buggy bench, and Christin was six months old just to get out of the house. And it’s been such an outreach, and I’ve grown to see everybody here as a family having childcare, where people take care of your children is huge. And we’ve come to the Buggy Bunch ever since my daughter was, you know, I think six months old, where it might seem silly to go to a playgroup when you know your baby can’t even play. But a lot of times it’s for me, for my mental health, just to have a place that I can come and be able to talk with women about what the Lord is doing. The Bible study has impacted me greatly. It allows for a mom to get spiritual growth. It allows for a mom to get her physical needs, even the Bible study has impacted my walk, I feel like it reassures me that my faith is a safe place for believers and non-believers to meet up with you, regardless of your religious beliefs or non-beliefs, and that’s what people need to be able to come somewhere that’s free, and the kids are still learning something every morning, you know, from other moms out there struggling. You know, there is a place for you to go. Without the Buggy Bunch, our house would probably be a lot more stressful. The Buggy Bunch gives us a sense of routine and a sense of like a day to day activity.
If the buggy bunch were to close, it would be, I guess, devastating just knowing that we don’t know any other place that we can go to and just feel safe.
Without the Buggy Bunch, I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t have the community so like, if they closed their doors. I’d be losing a part of my family. The mission that we’re supporting is coming alongside of anyone, whether it be emotional, physical, or mental, and coming alongside of those women and supporting them. Everyone is welcome here, and that’s what I love about it, is that they serve each individual and how they need to be served, however they need it in that season of life. And that’s why it is a worthwhile mission and cause to support.
Watch The Tour of The Family Center Video on Youtube
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Upbeat music playing
Family Testimonials: Lives Changed Through The Buggy Bunch
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Well, the Buggy Bunch has helped me out in lots of avenues. I reached out to the Buggy Bunch because I was a single mom. When I was looking for a daycare for my daughter, I am not the mom that’s just going to say, all right, I found a daycare.
I’m going to leave my daughter there. I’m the mom that is going to go to 20 different daycares. So the Buggy Bunch gave me a bunch of avenues of places that they’ve heard good things about.
And I went and checked them out. And Britton has been in a daycare that has been absolutely wonderful since she started. I heard about the Buggy Bunch club through a local church.
They were giving out diapers and pretty much letting all the soon-to-be mothers know about the diaper club. We can’t afford to buy diapers when you need extra help getting your kids stuff for Christmas. They’re just willing to help or showing you in the right directions to get the help that you need.
Any type of help that I need is pretty much for my kids. So with me getting that type of help, it is beneficial towards them as well. Through the Buggy Bunch too, I also got a car.
I was having a hard time paying bills when I had to pay for daycare for my daughter. So the Buggy Bunch called me one day and told me that they had somebody that had donated a car and blessed me with the vehicle. Buggy Bunch has been so helpful in so many ways.
See, Buggy Bunch isn’t just giving you diapers. It’s so much more than that. You’re getting a friend, a counselor, a cooking teacher, a baking instructor.
You’re getting it all, all in one. It’s always nice to be able to talk to someone that you don’t feel like is judging you. It’s just an amazing, amazing program.
As a mom, I really think Buggy Bunch helped me through so many avenues. I love that the Buggy Bunch is Christian-based. It shows that Jesus can use somebody like the Buggy Bunch to reach out to the community and help other moms like me.
To me, that is amazing because spiritually, we all need support like that.
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Speaker 1:
“Hey Mom!”
Speaker 2:
Meeting friends as a mom to me always felt a lot like dating. Like, are they going to like me? Do I ask for their number?
I was always really really nervous but the girls that I met, even though there were several of them that all obviously known each other a while they were just so nice and included me and made me feel really welcomed and just made me want to keep coming back.
Speaker 3:
I have enjoyed getting to know moms that are intentional about being good mom. It’s really hard in a society that we live in to find moms that really, really, like, take their time to really just be better people so that their children can grow up with a good mom.
Speaker 4:
At first, I was kind of concerned, it appeared to be a faith based group. And then I’d spoken to some of the girls who I’m in the junior league with and asked them about their experience within The Buggy Bunch. And they assured me since I’m not a religious person, that it was very open, everybody was really awesome. And just being able to get together with people who are going through the same things and it’s just been a great group of women that I’ve been working out with and just doing stuff outside.
Speaker 5:
I just love it for, you know, myself, I made a lot of friends and my kids made a lot of friends and, you know, gives us something to do all the time.
I’ve never even felt any type of pressure at all to, you know, attend church or attend Bible study, or any, you know, religious beliefs pushed on me or my kids. So I really like that because, you know, no, we don’t go to church and eventually you know, that that’ll be my kids decision. You know what they want to do? I’ll bring them if they like it, but Buggy Bunch has never pushed anything upon us.
Speaker 6:
For me personally, I didn’t really have any mommy friends beforehand. So I would just, you know, be sitting around home all day. So it’s nice to have adults to talk to who are going through the same thing I am as a mom. And just to relate on that level, especially in this phase in our life is a big deal.
Speaker 7:
“Do your kids like The Buggy Bunch?”
Speaker 6:
Oh, yes, yeah, they’ve made especially my two year old because I bring her to school most of the time, but she’s made so many little friends and it’s really helped her, we’re working on sharing.
Speaker 8:
I had the opportunity to teach one of the classes, that’s an exercise class at the park. And I have a lot of moms that come out to that for the first time because it’s a little less intimidating. You know, it’s not a Bible study. And sometimes they’ll they’ll, you know, kind of come in and check it out first. But what I see is I see other moms encouraging them as well. They feel part of a group. And so with that acceptance, people share they open up and when people open up, these moms are getting ministered to, and I’ll tell you what, there’s nothing better than a mom that truly believes truth about herself. That’s gonna turn around and change the world. It changes in her family first, it changes in our community here and then it just continues to spread.
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I’m having twins and I’m looking forward to playing with them and being the mother that I never knew. I finished high school, graduated early so I can move out because I just didn’t want to stay under my dad. My brother offered for me to live with him in West Palm Beach and I moved in with him as soon as I graduated which was 17 so I moved out on my own when I was 17 years old.
I moved in with my brother and he was doing drugs and everybody around me, they were all doing drugs and I felt myself getting sucked into it and I went downhill from there and spiraled out. I got caught up in jail and I started not caring if I went to jail. I started feeling comfortable in jail.
I definitely wanted to change, I just didn’t really know how to. When I got released from jail, I had friends, childhood friends from Vera Beach that were in the same lifestyle that I was in and they introduced me to the Buggy Bunch and how it has helped them and how the Lord has redeemed them from their sins. They invited me to come stay with them and I didn’t know at the time I was pregnant but I did when I moved up here and it definitely changed my life for the better.
Being surrounded by all these women that give you support and give you advice, it’s definitely helped with my self-esteem and it’s helped with me wanting to better my life. I attend the Buggy Bunch Bible Study and church every week. My favorite part about it would be discipleship.
I love being able to get to know other women on a deeper level. It’s helped me so much in my relationship with the Lord. I felt the Holy Spirit which I never knew I would feel or I never thought was real and when I had that feeling I knew that God was real.
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My life was a mess. I got pregnant at 17 in high school, dropped out, typical 17 year old babies dad didn’t stick around, I found someone else that would validate me in the wrong ways, and married them quickly, without love. Had another child. Of course, that turned into divorce. It wasn’t a true marriage. And then I was a single mom of two kids in a house by myself, and I found another boyfriend because that’s how I was validated. I invited him to move in, in a few months. And he brought drugs into my house, and I realized that I was out of control, and that my two young children were in this house with drugs in it. One day, my son came home from school and he had a Buggy Bunch card. And I didn’t know what The Buggy Bunch was, but I looked on their website, and I found a Bible study. And I went to the Bible study, and I went into this room. And there were a few ladies there that acted like they’ve known me my whole life. And they loved on me and were so excited that I came. I found the strength to get this drug addict out of my house. And I’ve made the deepest relationships I’ve probably ever had. The Buggy Bunch taught me that it’s not about what you wear when you go to church, you know, how you pray. They taught me that this is a relationship that needs to be nurtured. And and there’s love there to be had.
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I had a pretty loving home. And my parents were together and they got divorced when I was eight. And everything kind of turned upside down. My dad disappeared for years. And my mom raised us on her own. She was a bartender and going to nursing school the same time so we pretty much never really saw her until she bought a home for us, and then worked all the time to maintain the home so we never saw her again. Me and my sister kind of just did whatever we did with our friends. I dropped out of high school when I was 16. I met my son’s father a couple months later, and three months into that I got pregnant and had an abortion when I was 17. Just really rough, really just doing whatever I wanted to do drink and party and clubbing, man after man trying to fill holes and voids. And then I got pregnant with a son that I wanted that I tried three months to have, because there was something missing in my life. And I thought a child would fix that. When I was pregnant with my son, I quit my old lifestyle, everything I did and just turned my life around and really was just talking to my sister because at that time, she was the only person I knew that had a relationship with God or with Jesus and she was telling me about The Buggy Bunch. And I was like, Well, what is this? You know, you keep telling me about, she’s like, Oh, it’s awesome. You know, I could really see you getting involved and liking it. So I was like, Okay, and then when I moved up here, got plugged right in. The women I’ve met and the friendships here in The Buggy Bunch are just so real you know, it’s like, we can relate on levels that I can never really relate with anybody on we have the same goals we want to raise our children. People are gonna invest in you pour into, you know, be accountability and fellowship friends hold your hand when you need it, you know, call you and see how you’re doing just out of the blue or randomly let you know hey, I’m praying for you. You know, that was awesome when someone came and told me that. Wow, really, you think about me? Mmhm. The Buggy Bunch has given me opportunities to share my faith, you know, with with other believers and non believers just you know, exercising, working out together, sharing personal things and how the Lord spoke to me and things that he’s revealed to me I can share with other people. I’ve even had a friend move up here from West Palm and got completely involved in The Buggy Bunch with me. You know, now she’s saved and she’s right along in the in The Buggy Bunch, you know, just getting plugged in. The Buggy Bunch comes to you and welcomes you. I don’t know what you know, I don’t know what other friends I would have because I’m not, you know that outgoing person who can just reach out and find a million friends but The Buggy Bunch came to me. And because of that, how much my life has changed and how many people I’ve impacted that people have moved from West Palm because they want to know what The Buggy Bunch is.
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Speaker 1:
I’m thankful for The Buggy Bunch, because we moved here two weeks before our firstborn was born. His his delivery wasn’t easy. And it was a little complicated. But with the transition, there came a couple other challenges besides just the delivery, but just, you know, living in a new place and taking over a new job. And during that time, when I wasn’t able to be there, there were people in The Buggy Bunch that were able to come in and reach out to Jamie and give her a call or send her a Facebook message and have someone that could just come and give her a hug during the day and to tell her that, hey, you’re, you know, it’s okay to feel the way you’re feeling. And we know this time is difficult, but, you know, here’s some opportunities for you to be involved or, hey, here’s just a time where you can just come and sit and watch and be around people that could be experiencing, you know, things that are similar to you.
Speaker 2:
When you’re a new parent, you run into a lot of questions or things that your children are doing, and you think that you’re the only one experiencing them creates some stress. So when Sarah joined The Buggy Bunch, she met other moms and realized, hey, there’s a lot of people facing the situations that we were facing, a lot of the things that we do now as young parents, or with other people that are members of The Buggy Bunch. And that’s been a very valuable experience for both us and our children. Another benefit that The Buggy Bunch has had impacting her life and mine as well as is the fact that it’s opened our hearts and helped us explore our faith, more so than I ever have in my life. And I know she’s revisiting it and it’s, it’s been wonderful both for our marriage and and I imagine for our children as they grow up.
Speaker 1:
And if it wasn’t for the intentionality of The Buggy Bunch and seeking her out and not letting her fall through the cracks, those have been, you know, you know, lifelong friends and people that we’re just, you know, we hope to do you know, the rest of life with.
Speaker 2:
The Buggy Bunch’s impact on the community here is that it supports families at the highest level. And when you look at what makes a community special is families and the sense of belonging and I believe that’s what The Buggy Bunch is fostering in all of its programs. And we have experienced that firsthand.
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Hi, April in The Buggy Bunch. It’s me, Sophia. I’m on my way to Denver, Colorado currently in Tennessee. And I am so upset that I couldn’t be at the party tonight. But I extend my biggest thank you to everyone who’s involved in The Buggy Bunch and an extra thank you to April for everything that you’ve done between giving me diapers, giving me marriage advice, helping my divorce, not my divorce my marriage that was one signature away from a divorce get on the most amazing path that it could be on. Bringing together my kids myself, my husband, you guys have done so much for us, including giving us an awesome Christmas this past year. But what I am most thankful thankful for is my relationship with God that I would not have without you guys. I got baptized this past year. With April by my side. I did it at Calvary with their beach baptism. And I went from being an atheist for my entire life I went to Christian school I went to a Christian summer camp and I was an atheist. And April opened my eyes she gently guided me in the right direction she never made me feel obligated to believe in a god or pretend to and she was very open and loving and she was what I needed to find God and she was my safe place to admit that I didn’t believe and I she’s like an angel in my life. I don’t know what I would be doing without her and I definitely wouldn’t be making this move because this is all God here. My new job, my relationship with my husband, my relationship with God, my kids acting awesome on this road trip, that’s all God. So thank you ladies for everything you do and you will always have my support for The Buggy Bunch and for you guys, no matter where I am in the world, and I will always help in any way I can. I’ll be visiting often so this isn’t goodbye, but have a great night and again, I’m so sorry I couldn’t be there. Bye, guys.
Watch Sophia’s Story on Youtube
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Speaker 1:
My greatest struggle as a mom is just think pressures when you’re, you know, on Facebook or to be that Pinterest mom and think like “everybody’s got it all together all the time” and you know that “everyone has their teeth brushed and hair perfect and out the door.” That’s not real life. And so when we can go into Buggy Bunch and be real and know, you know, today was a hard morning, you know, just be able to share it with others and have them praying for you and praying for others and that’s sometimes you know, I, I need the support of others. But then other days I can meet a lady who is going through something that maybe I’ve already been through, and I can help her.
Speaker 2:
So to start off with, we did the exercise group which was a mommy and me exercise group, which is an amazing bunch of women and a physical fitness trainer that actually came to the Charles Park area and we got to do a good 30 to an hour workout, which was all different levels: there were me being the pregnant Mommy, and then others that had children ranging from a few weeks to a few years old. So that was an awesome group of women. And I did get to make a few friends out of the class as well that I met. So that one was an awesome event. As well as we’ve gotten to the diaper closet, which is a monthly thing. So every month we we come in to visit and we set goals so I get to pick out a new thing that I want to work on for the next month and plan which I’m really good at. So I’ve got my calendar with me and I mark everything down as far as you know when I have all my other classes and events that we try to go to as well. Miss April has been invaluable to me. She actually comes into the restaurant where I work at the Green Marlin and I know they’ve done some events there through the Buggy Bunch as well. So it’s been kind of cool to know that there’s a personal connection when when I go to the Buggy Bunch, she’s been she’s been awesome.
Speaker 3:
See I was pregnant with George my oldest when I found out about the Buggy Bunch through radio, I think it was the radio. And there was a playgroup at a playground like two blocks from where we lived at the time. And so I was like seven, eight months pregnant. So I waddled down to the park and wanted to make some mommy friends, and it ended up they were two families there that went to the same church that we were going to and so that was a nice connection there. I got to know them. Got plugged in with them and the Bible studies has just been a huge encouragement for focus on being a wife, and not just a mom, it’s always a good reminder that I’m supposed to be a wife first, and then a mom second. So once I’m in a Bible study, like, it’s just my mind gets in the right place. And but when I don’t have the Bible study, I seem to forget that aspect of it all. So I really enjoy the Bible studies. It gives you that support group, it’s very easy to become isolated as a mom. So it’s been a good village to have to raise kids with.
Speaker 4:
And I actually always thought the Buggy Bunch was just for women that had small children. And so I found out that was not the case. And got to know lots of women from all different walks of life, different ages, different stages of parenting. And it was so awesome to glean from other women in the body of Christ. And so we’re there to support each other and pray for each other and lift each other up. And give advice when asked for it. And just not only just developing close relationships with women, but helping each other cultivate a relationship with God. So I would say my greatest struggle as a mom is that I was a single parent, so not having the Dad and they’re not having his support. And so it’s great to be able to come and have some other women, build you up and give you some wisdom of you know, what they’ve been through too, and being able to help you in that struggle. And letting you know, you’re not alone. Even though you’re a single parent, you’re still not alone. There’s lots of people that can rally around you and help provide resources, means.
Speaker 5:
I was able to stay home once our second child was born, and it was wonderful and it was also profoundly lonely, and the buggy bunch offered other mothers who were going through the same thing and mothers who were just a couple steps ahead of me. So they could sort of mentor me through the difficult times with young children.
Speaker 6:
It did yeah, the camping trips were really exciting. It like she said, it was really great that the kids were able to run around and play they the on the first camping trip, they ran around the entire camp circle because all the other families and kids that were there were were also with the Buggy Bunch and so we didn’t have to worry that they were out running and playing, you know, and enjoying themselves. And you know, we got to have a group camp out and Bible study and they had children’s stories read to them and it was just a really great time.
Speaker 7:
I was in my diaper closet appointment, and we were talking about furthering my education and this Miss April of The Buggy Bunch introduce me to someone at Ocean who they organization with. Her name is Tara. And I am working with her finishing my education, getting my GED and further than going into college, for my medical assistant is very helpful because without Buggy Bunch I would not know where I’d be.
Speaker 8:
So it’s very beneficial that the Buggy Bunch offers these free activities. As I already mentioned, the diaper closet, the playgroups, the during the day activities and the date nights for families that struggle or are in a strict budget. And it’s just nice to have options that are free for our kids.
Speaker 9:
Kristi going to The Buggy Bunch Women’s Studies when we found out that they were doing couple’s studies we got pretty excited about that. They did child care, we could go out that just the two of us we could get together with other couples
Speaker 10:
and just the Bible study alone is kind of like a date night. Yeah. We’re able to also have date nights built into the Bible study, which is a lot of fun. And not having to worry about, you know, paying more than the date cost and child care. But having that child care provided is pretty amazing.
Speaker 9:
And this Bible study, where we’re, we’re learning, you know, get closer to God. And the closer you get to God, the closer you’re going to get to each other and the better your marriage will be in the closer, closer you’ll be.
Speaker 10:
Yeah, I think Buggy Bunch Bible studies are different than a lot of church studies that I have been a part of in the years past, just because of the people and at church a lot of times you come together with ladies you know, they’re they’re great, but a lot of them have grown up in the church. They know a lot about the Bible, which is awesome but in Buggy Bunch you have people who are new Christians, we have seasoned Christians who have been, you know, in the church for years and years, you have people that don’t know God a lot, and I think it’s a great witness tool as well, because then, you know, you’re getting spiritually fed, but others are getting spiritually fed as well. And it’s not just you know, this is all I know, this is what I know. But we are pouring our lives into others too, and helping them grow at the same time.
Speaker 11:
We love the amazing dates. Yeah.
Speaker 12:
Yeah. They’ve been really amazing.
Speaker 11:
And you would think that, that I would maybe be hesitant about like the questions and the packets that come with it and just want the free childcare but we actually did really enjoy the questions and stuff and they prompted some really good conversation.
Speaker 12:
Absolutely. And you know, that the kids know the other kids in childcare, so that’s another great thing. It’s, it’s not just free childcare. It’s, it’s a playdate for them and they’re having a good time. And we can almost just not even prepare for it. We just are excited to see what the packet has for us. And you know, when you have little children sometimes it’s hard to break away. And it’s really important for mom and dad to have some time by themselves and out of the house and The Buggy Bunch has supported that.