Carly Fradgley (Class of 2003) believes that it’s sometimes hard to see the full extent of human need.

She finds this especially true in the case of families who are struggling to provide the basic living necessities to their newborns and toddlers.

Their battle isn’t always broadcast, or even in plain sight, yet it remains a fundamental one.

Baby Give Back has been Carly’s labour of love for half a decade, and she is on a mission to help families who are doing it tough.

The charity was founded on the premise that “every baby deserves an equal start”.

“Baby Give Back began about five and a half years ago when I realised how lucky I was to be able to give our kids everything they needed to be safe,” says Carly.

“There was a moment when I was sitting in the dining room feeding my son, looking at a big pile of accumulated baby things sitting in the corner, still in great condition, and just thought there had to be a way to pass these things on to somebody who needed it more than I did.”

After coming across the St Kilda’s Mums organisation, which also repurposes baby goods, Carly recognised the need for a similar model in Queensland.

“The first night when I realised Baby Give Back wasn’t just going to be a hobby was the first time we sat down with a social worker,” Carly recalls.

“She was telling us about the sorts of circumstances that some families on the Gold Coast are in – mums not eating because they were prioritising food for their children, families with kids in hospital not being able to afford necessities, families experiencing domestic violence.”

“I didn’t appreciate the extent of the need at that time, but the fact is that one in six kids in Queensland are living in poverty and don’t have access to all the essentials that they require to be safe.”

In a world beset by pandemics, natural disasters, war and unrest, the number of families experiencing hardship is only expected to grow.

Luckily, Baby Give Back has become a lifeline for so many people over the past few years and has reached the point of helping between 800 to 1,000 kids every month.

As both an All Saints mum and charitable entrepreneur, Carly regularly connects with the school to provide service learning opportunities for students.

“For the last few years, I’ve worked with Year 7 Christian Living classes on their Compassion Projects, where they have collected and delivered items to the warehouse with Mother Ann and Mrs Barker,” she says.

“My kids are currently in Year 1 and Year 3, and they also spend time at the warehouse during the school holidays. I talk to them a lot about what we do, and I just think that teaching our kids the importance of giving and showing them how easy it is to change people’s lives is very important.”

Alumni on board!

Baby Give Back appointed a board of directors a few years ago to help manage its incredible growth.

By way of networking and happy chance, one of the experienced industry professionals who joined that board last year is All Saints alumni Charlotte Goninan (Class of 2009).

Charlotte currently works for her family business, the Goninan Family Office & Foundation, which operates a range of businesses in the financial services, property, development and charitable sectors in Australia and the United States.

Before taking up the family mantle and diving into other board directorships, Charlotte cut her teeth at college in the US before coming back home to Australia and becoming a tour manager in the entertainment industry.

Her most recent role in that field was as Global Exhibitions Manager with TEG, the parent company of Ticketek, where she was responsible for organising massive exhibitions for the likes of The Rollings Stones, The Nelson Mandela Foundation, Real Madrid and LEGO’s Brickman.

“After leaving that role I spent some time overseas, and while I was away my parents started a family foundation which I now manage,” says Charlotte. “I was introduced to Carly via our accountant, who also happens to be a director of Baby Give Back, and then dad and I went to the warehouse.”

It was so immediately obvious to Charlotte and her father, the scale and the necessity of the work that Baby Give Back was doing, that almost on the spot they made the decision to get involved.

Charlotte’s installation on the board has now given her the ability to help grow the organisation and manage its trajectory.

Expansion to Logan is currently on the cards for Baby Give Back as it looks to bridge the gap between its Brisbane and Gold Coast warehouses, and service an area identified as being “in great need”.

Charlotte says finding avenues to grow sustainably and stay manoeuvrable will be key in the next few years.

“The truth is that the need we’re seeing at the moment is only growing with the cost-of-living pressures, inflation pressures - and I’m sure this won’t be the last flood we’ll see in the next few years, given La Nina,” she says.

“But the best thing about Baby Give Back is its ability to be ready for anything, and ready to be flexible and pivot when needed.”

“Plus, there is a staff base that has been recruited who are so passionate and cause driven. Nobody watches their clock or is just there for a wage. They’re really there because they know they are making an impact, and I think that is a beautiful point of difference.”

How you can help

It’s the classic catch 22. The bigger a charity gets, the more people it helps – yet the more support it inevitably needs. To find out ways you can assist Baby Give Back, visit babygiveback.org.