Minority Health Coalition to host free baby shower in Elkhart

The Minority Health Coalition of Elkhart County is turning a familiar celebration into a public-health tool. Its 23rd annual Shower Your Baby with Love community baby shower will run Saturday, May 30, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Tolson Center of Excellence, 1320 Benham Ave., in Elkhart, and the event is free and open to the community.

Organizers are inviting up to 100 families, with a focus on expecting parents and households with children ages 0 to 2. The coalition says the goal is not only to hand out supplies, but to give families practical support and health education at a stage when many gaps in care and information can still shape pregnancy, birth and a baby’s first year.

The giveaway list shows the scale of the effort. Families will be able to receive diapers, wipes, bottles, books, sippy cups, car seats, blankets, bibs, cribs, strollers and learning toys. The first 10 families will also receive restaurant gift certificates, adding a small but useful layer of support beyond infant care items.

The event sits squarely inside the coalition’s larger mission. The Minority Health Coalition of Elkhart County says it works to eliminate health disparities through research, education, advocacy and access to health care services, and it has been operating since 1994. Infant mortality is one of its key priorities, alongside mental health, oral health and health insurance access.

That focus matches the public-health picture in Indiana. State data show 524 infant deaths in 2023, for an infant mortality rate of 6.6 per 1,000 live births. Health officials have also said the Non-Hispanic Black infant mortality rate has been more than double the Non-Hispanic White rate, and Indiana data showed a similar gap in 2021, when Non-Hispanic Black babies were more than twice as likely to die in the first year of life as Non-Hispanic White babies.

The coalition’s programming page places Shower Your Baby with Love alongside Mothers In Waiting/Infant Mortality, suggesting the baby shower is part of a broader maternal-and-child-health strategy rather than a one-day outreach effort. Local partners tied to the event include Heart City Health, Quit Now Indiana, the Tolson Center for Community Excellence and Anthem. The Tolson Center, rooted in South Central Elkhart, offers a fitting setting for a program built around equity, access and trust.