Yamhill Community Care to Host Free Baby Shower for New Parents

Parents preparing for a newborn will be able to walk into Chehalem Cultural Center in Newberg, leave with a diaper bag of baby essentials, and connect with more than 20 agencies focused on perinatal support. Yamhill Community Care Early Learning Hub is hosting the free Community Baby Shower on Thursday, April 23, 2026, from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., with no registration required and a format built for families who need help without adding another appointment to the calendar.

The event is designed as a resource fair as much as a celebration. Each family that attends will receive baby supplies and be entered into a free raffle with prizes such as strollers and car seats. Light food and non-alcoholic beverages will also be available, and partners and siblings are welcome, making the gathering a family-centered stop rather than a narrow service intake.

The hub has placed the event on its calendar in bilingual English-Spanish form as FREE Community Baby Shower // Baby Shower Comunitario GRATUITO, a detail that reflects the audience Yamhill Community Care is trying to reach across Newberg and the broader county. Jennifer Laine, the hub’s director, said the team is excited to welcome families again and provide valuable resources to support their parenting journey. That positioning matters in a county where access can be uneven outside larger metro areas, and where a drop-in event can help parents learn what is available before a crisis or a missed need piles up.

Yamhill Community Care Early Learning Hub describes its work as aligning early childhood, K-12 education, health, human services, business, government, and philanthropic sectors into one county-wide early learning system. Oregon’s Department of Early Learning and Care says hubs help communities build a shared vision, coordinate priorities, funding, and services, and center family voices, especially in places where race, income, zip code, or language can shape access to support. The baby shower fits that model by putting agencies in one room and lowering the barrier to entry for new and expecting parents.

The event also sits inside a broader local maternal and infant support network. A 2024 Oregon Health Authority case study said Yamhill Community Care and Yamhill County Health and Human Services were already working together on early childhood home visits, a Maternal Medical Home model, and new-parent toolkits. Yamhill County WIC also serves pregnant and recently pregnant people, along with children 5 and younger, with food, health care, and nutrition education. With similar community baby showers held in McMinnville in October 2023 and Newberg in May 2024, the April 23 gathering extends an ongoing outreach strategy rather than a one-time event.