Delivering bundles to families in need since 2001
HISTORY
Mary Jo Prinsen
Founder
Bundles of Love Charity
Hi! I'm Mary Jo Prinsen, founder of Bundles of Love Charity.
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I’ve been asked several times recently to explain how Bundles of Love Charity was started. The evolution of Bundles of Love has been a faith-building experience for me and I’ve come to believe that God had a hand in its creation.
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During my late night “surfing” expeditions, I stumbled upon a few charities aimed at helping infants. ​At first I was dubious that so many infants could be in need in our wealthy country, but I soon became determined to clean out my fabric stash and start helping. My time was limited and I determined that paying postage to mail items long distances would further curtail my ability to help.​
​​I sought the counsel of my supportive mother (Joanne Larsen, formerly the leader of the Rochester Bundles of Love work group) about starting a local sewing group. Newly retired from her nursing career, she agreed to help and recruited fellow retired nurse Mary Rossman.
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By late April, Marilyn Rukavina, a former co-worker, and Maggie Holland, who found us through a message board, joined the effort and the five of us became the local chapter board of directors for a national charity. Initially, we met in Marilyn’s home.
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Our first goal became making up five infant layettes that we had agreed to provide to a Dakota County crisis pregnancy center called Life Care Center. We worked on sewing baby quilts, blankets and clothing, and found a few more volunteers.
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We made our first donation in June, and agreed to continue to provide five bags of infant bedding and clothing each month for Life Care Center clients who we felt to be in the greatest financial need. We provided bags of handmade items. Through another agency, Life Care provided a crib to each of the families.
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We continued to meet this goal, then started exceeding it as word of mouth brought in more donated supplies and volunteers. At the same time, more requests for our help came from area clinics and hospitals.
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Work groups later formed in the North Metro, South Metro and Rochester, and in 2001, our local board of directors moved forward. Through this, Bundles of Love was “born." Our name later officially became “Bundles of Love Charity,” and we are a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Minnesota to help local families in need.