I Needed To Do More Oliver Mum Starts Special Care Package Business After Spending Two Months In Hospital With Newborn Alone Penticton News

“I knew I had to do more and create something that people could give to someone who was going through one of those tough times.” Ashley Bodnar spent two months in four different hospitals, going through seven ambulance rides and three Medivac flights after her newborn baby fell ill just four days after she was born. “My daughter was born in May 2021 and when she was born everything went great,” he said. “Well, two days after we got home, my son was holding her. And I turned around and noticed she wasn’t breathing. She was limping.” The family rushed to the South Okanagan General Hospital for help, but the pediatric care unit was quite limited. “We went from Oliver to Penticton to Kelowna and then they flew us to BC Children’s Hospital. We were then flown back to Kelowna to be closer to home and flown back to Penticton in hopes that we would get better and be out of the hospital. But he didn’t.” During those two months, Bodnar remained at the hospital the entire time with her daughter. “I wasn’t able to go home or leave the hospital at all… Obviously, COVID-19 was still very much in the hospital at the time. And there were a lot of rules about what kind of isolation and visitors.” Bodnar described days of staring at hospital walls with little to do but wait. “You’re sitting alone in a hospital room. And gosh, it was hard.” Whenever Bodnar was transported, she had almost nothing to take with her. “Every time you fly you can’t take much, they want you to take like a tiny bag,” Bondar said. “We were transported so much that I didn’t have clean clothes. When we first did all this, I didn’t even have a toothbrush.” “Honestly, I didn’t care about that. All I cared about was the fact that our daughter was really sick and we just had to go, we had to be there.” And throughout her time in the Okanagan and Vancouver, Bodnar noticed other families going through similar situations, losing daily toiletries or basics. “They just didn’t have a lot of support, whether it was like geographically dispersed families or they just didn’t have time to go and pack. When you’re sick or taking care of someone sick, you don’t often think like you’re reaching for a toothbrush or deodorant because you don’t know how long you’re going to be there,” Bondar said. “I had so many friends and family reach out and [ask] ‘What can we do? What can we give you? What can we send you?’ I really struggled to answer a lot of these questions because I didn’t really know what I needed or what would be helpful.” Dozens of flowers showed up when the family was placed at the Ronald McDonald House, which Bodnar realized, though she thought, wasn’t what many needed in situations like hers. “That’s kind of where Delivering Sunshine started. I got out of the hospital and obviously, we’re still navigating a lot with my daughter. But I knew there had to be more, we had to give back and do more.” Over the next several months, Bodnar said she spent time researching and talking to nursing staff, doctors and the general public to gather ideas. In early 2022, she founded Delivering Sunshine, which is an e-commerce site that provides pre-assembled care packages to provide a mix of age-appropriate activities, snacks and personal care items. “I had a girl the other day who broke her leg and even that, like she’s not really mobile, she’s stuck at home, and I even sent her a care package like these really neat items or snacks in… That’s a bonus to make it different enough to work for any kind of situation where someone might not have easy access to go out and get some of these basic types of care.” Bodnar said she focused on filling the boxes with products that were Canadian, small business, indigenously owned or environmentally friendly. The company officially launched in early August. “One of the most important things to me was not just creating these care packages, but finding a way to give back and so we made it our mission to donate 10 percent or redistribute 10 percent of our funds to the providing care packages at the Ronald McDonald House.” The business also has an option to purchase a care package that will be hand-delivered to families at the Ronald McDonald House. The packages are delivered to a facility or residence and are made to be hospital friendly. “It’s hard to be away from home and away from your family,” Bodnar said. “I’m really excited about the venture. I think it’s going to be great to be able to find a way to give back. Something that’s very near and dear to my heart.” “I hope I can really bring some sunshine to those who are having a hard time in hospital.” To learn more about Delivering Sunshine or to purchase a package, visit their website here. Photo: Contributed

title: " I Needed To Do More Oliver Mum Starts Special Care Package Business After Spending Two Months In Hospital With Newborn Alone Penticton News Klmat" ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-18” author: “Connie Desmond”

title: " I Needed To Do More Oliver Mum Starts Special Care Package Business After Spending Two Months In Hospital With Newborn Alone Penticton News Klmat" ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-19” author: “Sharon Humphrey”

title: " I Needed To Do More Oliver Mum Starts Special Care Package Business After Spending Two Months In Hospital With Newborn Alone Penticton News Klmat" ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-17” author: “Joyce Brown”