Facing an unplanned pregnancy can be a frightening experience. Life Choices Pregnancy Center in Columbus hopes to help. The support of community partners like Missionary Union Baptist Church advances the ministry. That’s why church members have been collecting donated baby supplies and maternity items for the past couple of months.
“We’re collecting cribs, strollers, car seats, baby bottles, wipes, clothes, bibs, money, anything,” said Jackie Exum, a member of the Sisterhood at Missionary Union Church. The women’s group regularly selects community projects to support; this year they chose Life Choices.
Exum has volunteered at the center, so she is familiar with the work it does, and the need for helping hands. The donated baby items will help restock the center’s baby store. Life Choices’ clients spend “baby bucks” there that they earn for everything from making and keeping appointments to watching videos and taking classes. Women earn up to 50 baby bucks per visit, explained Ida Gleason, the center’s director.
Free services
Maternity and baby items available at the store are of great help to clients, as are the many free services offered by the center.
The nonprofit organization can provide pregnancy tests, peer counseling, abstinence education, STD eduction, post-abortion support, expectant mom and dad classes and other practical assistance, all in a confidential Christian environment.
“We are not federally funded,” explained Gleason. “Our whole budget is provided by churches, individuals and businesses who are interested in our cause.”
Volunteers are needed.
There are many ways volunteers can get involved, Gleason said. “They can help with special projects, like the baby bottle drive we do once a year, they can answer phones, make appointments and greet clients, they can choose to work in the baby store, help with housekeeping, or we can train them to be peer counselors if they’re interested.”
At Missionary Union Church, Exum and fellow Sisterhood member Rochelle Brown hope even more congregation members will donate to the baby supplies drive now in its final few weeks. They encourage other churches, organizations and individuals to donate new or gently-used supplies, or monetary contributions, directly to the center, too.
“We want to try to offer assistance to the Life Choices program and be mentors, if we can,” remarked Exum. “Another good thing about this is we’ve gotten volunteers from the Sisterhood to go to Life Choices. They just can’t operate without volunteers.”
For more information about the center located at 1204 Second Ave. N. in Columbus, call 662-327-0500. It is open Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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