Caring Causes: #BabySitIn

Save the Children’s one-of-a kind teen volunteer project, called #BabySitIn, treats parents to a guilt-free night (or day) on the town while helping the world’s babies get a healthy start. By teaming up with their favorite babysitter to hold a #BabySitIn, parents get to have some fun sans kids, teens get engaged in a good cause, and together they help make this world a better place for babies.  

 

“As parents, we often feel a pang of guilt when leaving our kids at home to go out with our spouse or friends. That’s why Save the Children came up with the #BabySitIn idea,” said Carolyn Miles, president and CEO for Save the Children. “It gives parents a much deserved break so they can go to the movies or on a dinner date while at the same time supporting teens to help babies everywhere get a strong and healthy start. No guilt involved!”

 

Every day, 18,000 children around the world don’t make it to their fifth birthday, losing their lives to mostly preventable and treatable diseases like diarrhea and pneumonia. Meanwhile, in the United States, kids living in poverty are developmentally 18 months behind their peers by age four. Yet, two out of five children in America are not enrolled in preschool.

 

To help more babies have a stronger start in life, Save the Children is calling on all babysitters to hold a #BabySitIn between Mother’s Day on May 11 and Father’s Day on June 15.  Here is how a #BabySitIn works:  a teen volunteers his/her babysitting time to a family; the family gives a donation to Save the Children in the babysitter’s name; and Save the Children uses that donation to help the world’s babies and toddlers. Then, everyone spreads the word through social media.

Save the Children is the leading independent organization for children in need, with programs in 120 countries, including the United States. We aim to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children, and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives by improving their health, education and economic opportunities. In times of acute crisis, we mobilize rapid assistance to help children recover from the effects of war, conflict and natural disasters. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.