Among them was Leanne Olsen, packing her first birthing kits. Together, they assembled 200 that afternoon – simple supplies, carefully packed in Warwick, Queensland, for women giving birth far from the medical care Australians often take for granted.
That was 2009. In the years since, Leanne has helped turn a small gathering into a community tradition, bringing students, volunteers and fellow Zontians together to support cleaner, safer births.
Her dedication also earned her the title of Birthing Kit Champion, a special award for Zonta members who are nominated by their clubs for outstanding support of our mission – to provide clean birth supplies to women and girls who need them most.
It acknowledges the commitment behind every successful Assembly Day: raising funds, rallying volunteers and helping people understand how birthing kits save lives.
Leanne joined the Zonta Club of Warwick in 2008 and later took on the role of club treasurer. Since she came on board nearly two decades ago, the club has assembled almost 17,000 kits.
Initially, she began by creating promotional flyers, inviting the wider community to lend a hand. Over time, her role grew to hosting Assembly Days, ordering kit supplies and coordinating deliveries.
For years, volunteers gathered in the dining hall of a local boarding school on the Saturday before Mother’s Day. For Leanne and her fellow volunteers, the date was a reminder of how fortunate they were to have access to medical care. With students joining in, it also became an opportunity to talk about why the kits were needed.
“Those students were always very reflective and asked a lot of questions of us,” Leanne says.
“It made us feel that that day is more than just packing kits. It was a chance for us to be educators to the next generation.”
At one point, Leanne and her husband ran a hardware store, where she took delivery of kit supplies.
One year, she arranged for a forklift to carry a pallet of boxes down the road. After packing, her ute carried the completed boxes, ready for the courier.
“I can now picture our forklift bumping down the road almost losing the boxes,” Leanne recalls.
Hurdles aside, the delivery gave her a chance to explain the project to the men at the hardware store and show them how their work helped get the kits on their way.
When COVID-19 made gathering impossible, she found another way. Leanne divided the supplies into smaller bundles and delivered them to members when they could no longer work side by side.
Packing together has given members time to catch up and get to know one another in a way that club meetings rarely allow.
“Of course the cuppa and sweet treats afterwards are a big part of it too, with many recipes shared,” Leanne says.
From a physio bed in Warwick to the hands of a mother thousands of kilometres away, every kit carries the care of the people who packed it.
For years, Leanne has helped bring those people together, turning their willingness to help into something a mother can hold.