It's not often you come across a baby shower that you don't need to bring a gift for, and one in Merrill Tuesday instead gave the gift of information.
The Lincoln County Service Center hosted a resource event under the title of a "Community Baby Shower," designed to help new parents of children from birth to toddlers find the help they need.
"Parents don't have to go to each individual business to find out more about them, they can just come," said Maria Richardson, an administrative assistant with the Birth to Three program in Marathon, Lincoln, and Langlade Counties.
"It's a one stop shop, [they can] come, get all the information and then take that home and utilize the resources as they need," Richardson added.
Just getting the information out there was considered the most important, as the idea originally came from organizers noticing a similar event from the southern part of the state.
This was deemed especially important information to get out there officials say the cost of becoming a parent has only gotten higher in recent years.
"Talking to new moms, and myself being a new mom too, I wasn't aware of all the resources, so I'm like, 'We need to make sure everyone's aware,' because there's so many resources out there that are right here in our county that people don't know about," said Lexi Buntrock, a public health educator with the Lincoln County Health Department.
Care packages were available to anyone who attended, which had items like diapers, a starter toothbrush, and wipes.
If you missed this event and would like to learn more about the resources parents have at their disposal, contact your local health department.
