Vehicles line up monthly for a “drive-by baby shower” at the Phoenix Veterans Administration office near Third Street and Indian School Road, where each new mother or mother-to-be in line is a military veteran waiting to receive a 77-quart bin of new baby supplies.

An average of 10 moths drive through each month, according to Ellen Murphy, a volunteer with the Veterans Administration Moms and Babies Program in Phoenix. She has been with the program 13 of its 16-year existence.

The monthly showers are “one way we’re expressing thanks to these veterans,” Murphy said.

Murphy recently visited the Rip ’N’ Sew club to pick up newly-sewn and crocheted items that the club’s special-interest group, Sewing from the Heart, made for the baby showers. Sewing from the Heart, which focuses on sewing for children, gave Murphy 29 bibs, three soft books, six buntings (sleepers with a zip-up front), 16 nursing aprons, 20 receiving blankets, 11 knit baby hats and 28 stuffed animals.

“We’ve been very fortunate” to receive homemade items, which the mothers especially appreciate,” Murphy said.

“Thank you so very much for the beautiful items you and the ladies of Rip ’N’ Sew have made and crocheted,” she told the Rip ’N’ Sew group. 

The program gets no VA funding and all the workers are volunteers, Murphy said. The VA gives the group use of an outdoor storage pod and some storage space indoors and the VA maternity clinic coordinator lets the volunteers know about how many moms and moms-to-be will be coming to the monthly baby shower. The clinic coordinator also lets the moms know when and where the shower will occur.

“The stuffed animals are so precious. Any child will be delighted to have one. I can only imagine the expressions on their faces when they see them,” Murphy said. “We don’t accept used items,” she added, so everything the volunteer program gives to the moms depends on donations.

Each mother receives a bin of items, which includes disposable diapers, new infant clothes and toys and homemade baby and mom items such as what Rip ’N’ Sew made.

Sometimes, donated items are outside the range of baby needs — stuffed animals are too large for an infant, clothing for toddlers, etc. If a mother has older children, these items may be given to her for the older children, Murphy said.