FIFTY YEARS AND COUNTING

The Christ Child Society’s Albany Chapter marks 50th anniversary

Jeanette May (at l.), previous president of the Christ Child Society Albany chapter and member of the National Christ Child Society Board of Directors, and Kathy Decatur, committee chair for the Albany chapter’s literacy program, stand in front of the chapter house. May holds teddy bears while Decatur displays children’s books, each of which the nonprofit helps distribute to children in need. (Emily Benson photo)

In a white house off Carman Road in Schenectady, a group of teddy bears are taking a bath.

The plethora of stuffed animals are piled high inside the white tub, all looking fresh (as if they really did come out of the bath) and ready for their next family. Like many other baby items, from blankets to bottles to books, the stuffed animals are housed inside the “white house,” the motherhouse and storage/working space for the Christ Child Society’s Albany Chapter.

The local chapter serves as part of the national Christ Child Society, founded in 1866 by Mary Virginia Merrick who devoted herself to serving children in need, inspired by her love of the Christ Child. In 1973, the Albany Diocese’s chapter made its debut with just a handful of dedicated volunteers. This year, the group celebrates its 50th anniversary. 

“Here we are 50 years later,” said Jeanette May, previous president of the Christ Child Albany chapter and member of the National Christ Child Society Board of Directors. The group celebrated their milestone with a gala event at the Italian American Community Center in September. 

The non-profit’s motto is to serve children and mothers who are in need, regardless of faith, through a variety of programs, including layette bundles for hospitals and pregnancy centers; comfort bags for area shelters, foster-care programs and several police departments; books for those without personal libraries who use food pantries, shelters and community housing; school supplies; First Communion outfits using referrals from area churches; and adopting families for Christmas using referrals from other service agencies.

Today, the Albany Christ Child Society is made up of over 70 members working in various roles across the 14 counties of the Albany Diocese. At the chapter’s beginning, members were primarily focused on making and distributing baby layettes. On average, the mostly women volunteers distributed 30 layettes annually. Today, the Albany chapter averages around 500 layettes a year. 

This year in particular is a record high for the chapter, May said, having already made almost 530 layettes. She predicts the group will hit 600 by the end of the year.

“That will be the most we ever put out,” said May. “It could be that there’s more need, that people were just out of work or not working.”

The chapter’s house, located next door to St. Madeleine Sophie Church, was offered up as a working space to the members of Christ Child Society almost 20 years ago. Over time, its many rooms have been filled with the life’s work of the organization. 

The back room stores baby layettes and quilts, almost all of which are knitted or crocheted by members. There’s an entire committee of ladies dedicated solely to making blankets for distribution, May said. “In every one of these bags, we’re putting out a hand-knitted, crocheted or stitched sweater set, and a blanket or afghan. It’s just amazing.”

Other areas of the house are packed with baby clothes, diapers, bottles and various newborn necessities. The back staircase is reserved for Kathy Decatur, committee chair for the literacy program, who stacks various books she collects for distribution alongside the staircase — mainly because there is little spare room elsewhere. 

The literacy program, headed by Decatur, helps to distribute children’s books, ranging from infants to older teens. In 2020, around 1,900 books were distributed by the program. This year, the group has distributed 2,600 books. 

Some of the books are purchased using the Albany chapter’s sparse $25,000 budget, particularly for books in various languages. Agencies in contact with the chapter will request books in languages such as Urdu, Arabic or Spanish for immigrant families so parents can read to their children.

It’s one of the reasons why donations — both physical, like old baby clothes, books and blankets, and financial contributions — are such a huge help. And are always received with great thanks, May said.

“I’ve met some wonderful women through this organization, and everything they do is terrific.” Decatur said. “I can’t say enough nice things about what they do.”