If you see more than 100 strollers lined up outside Steveston Park next Tuesday and wonder if the village has been invaded by new moms, you’d be right.
Dozens of them are expected to descend on the park around lunchtime June 7 for the first ever Mommy + Baby Picnic, organized by a new Steveston-born and bred network called Van City Mom Squad.
Primarily targeting mothers with newborns, or pre-toddler age, Stevestonites Christie Ertner, 32, and Kimi Nomura Schwab, 31, discovered — after giving birth nine months and six months ago respectively — there was a void in social opportunities.
So they took it upon themselves to form the Van City Mom Squad and came up with the picnic idea to connect what they thought would be 20 to 30 like-minded moms.
However, after recently setting up a Facebook event page for the picnic, more than 250 moms from all over Metro Vancouver have expressed an interest and this week, within 24 hours of creating an online network via Instagram, 100 have signed up.
“All we had done was reach out to our immediate friends in the community and it’s taken off,” said Nomura Schwab, whose son, Grey, is six-months-old (see front cover).
“It just spread like wildfire from there. We wanted to create other social events for new moms and being a new mom and talking with all the other new moms, I realized there wasn’t really a place we could all get together.
“There are information drop-ins and things like that and then there are drop-ins for moms with older babies, who are toddlers.
“This is much more social and many new moms don’t have this option. I think that’s been shown by the Facebook response.”
The picnic will be the first of a series of events the group is organizing and Ertner, who has a nine-month-old girl called Keira, said the event is also an opportunity “for moms to meet other moms...and to simply just get out of the house.”
Indeed, teaming up is not new to Ertner and Nomura Schwab, who first met in Kindergarten and grew up together in Steveston.
And while they’re fortunate to be raising their children together, they know that not all moms are in the same situation.
“…there are so many moms that don’t have access to the same type of support,” said Nomura Schwab.
“This is what we hope to create for moms in Richmond, and eventually across the Lower Mainland, through our social network…”
The pair also wants to promote local businesses and mompreneurs with baby toys, clothes and products available at the picnic. West Wind Photography will be taking photos, Whistler-based Love Child Organics has donated baby food and new Richmond mom Teri Wachtel, of Hudson + Hobbs, is coming along with some products. Moms will also have an opportunity to win products for themselves and their babies.
For more information, follow @VancityMomSquad on Instagram or email [email protected].
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