Canberra’s iconic eatery Brodburger is donating one dollar from every baby burger sold this June to the Newborn Intensive Care Foundation (NICF) to help critically ill babies.
Brodburger co-owner Joelle Bou-Jaoude (aka Mrs Brod) said they’re thrilled to be helping such a worthy cause, having had friends whose babies needed to spend time at the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
“Having a baby in the first place is stressful, but having a baby you can’t take home is even harder,” Joelle said.
So, she started brainstorming ways to help the charity that would be easy for people to see it would support babies.
“We’ve got baby burgers, let’s do something with them,” Joelle thought, when deciding all burgers ordered in a baby size would be the perfect tool to deliver the message.
She also noted that people ordering online have the option of donating if they are feeling too hungry for just a baby burger.
Burgers for Babies is the brainchild of NICF volunteer, Tina Martinovic.
“I had Bake for Babies, and Bubbles for Babies, then I was like Burgers for Babies! Oh my god, this could work,” Tina said.
She knew straight away that she wanted to reach out to her favourite burger joint.
Tina found out about the Foundation after her youngest son was born at just 27 weeks, and he needed to spend 83 days in the hospital after being delivered via emergency caesarean.
“So much stuff he used and needed was funded by the organisation; the government only funds the necessities,” she said.
Since volunteering with the organisation, she has piloted the fundraising ventures, including Bake for Babies which turns five this year. With her being the only volunteer, there are no administration costs, which allows all the funds to go directly to purchasing items for the NICU at Canberra Hospital.
Each year, the hospital gives NICF a wish list of items which would help babies both before and after birth. This year, the target is a Billicoon, a transportable phototherapy unit to be used during the transportation of babies, particularly important to babies experiencing jaundice.
The unit not only helps families in Canberra, but people also travel from southern NSW to receive care. The device would help treatment start as soon as the baby is collected rather than having to wait until they arrive at the hospital, which could involve hours of driving.
“That’s where problem arise; if you don’t treat it immediately, that’s where complications come in. Having one of these units is like CPR,” Tina said. To find out more about the foundation head to their website, to grab a burger head to Brodburger.
