Teens organise festival to help families in need

Sisters Latoya Hood (left) and Kasey hope their Baby Festival in Nov will help many Whangarei families. Photo / Jessica Roden

Hundreds of bags of baby clothes will be given away by Whangarei teenagers looking to support struggling families in the region.

Latoya Hood, 19, is one of three young people behind the charity Pepi Pride, which is set to hold its first Baby Festival on November 8 at the Whangarei Youth Space.

"It's a day to come and celebrate babies," Latoya said. "We're all human at the end of the day and we all want to help each other out".

The event, which will give away clothes for 1-5 year olds, is particularly targeted towards teen mums, she said.

It will run from 11am-3pm and include childcare, a sausage sizzle and information for parents about things such as breast feeding - and it is all free.

"We don't want it to just be a place where people just take the clothes and leave," Latoya said.

Latoya works at the Youth Service in Kensington, where she sees teenagers who lack support in families, which played a big part in her motivation behind Pepi Pride. Since starting the charity in April, Latoya along with her sister Kasey, 16, and fellow organiser Quinn Moffat, 17, have been inundated with offers of support. More than 100 bags of clothing has been gathered to date, not including toys, baby bottles, baths and plenty more.

While the project was initially daunting, the feedback from the community has been great, Kasey said.

"Everyone just wanted to help," she said. "Mums were messaging on Facebook saying 'You are doing so well'".

If this year's event is a success Pepi Pride may look at doing another next year, but they are certain they would like to keep it "manageable" in size.

Pepi Pride is still accepting donations, which can be dropped off at the Youth Space, in Cafler Park, Whangarei, or the Old Library. More information can be found on the Pepi Pride Facebook page.