Eight-month-old Juan Rodriguez watched intently as his mother showed off his new summer wardrobe.

“He’s all set,” said Yolanda Rodriguez, a Trenton resident, as she folded the new items she acquired during the Mount Carmel Guild’s summer baby shower held May 24 and placed them into bags.

“I’m very grateful for the guild and all that they do,” said Rodriguez.

The guild, which is an inner-city Trenton diocesan agency that assists people in need through its Emergency Assistance Program and Home Health Program hosted the baby shower as an event that gave mothers with infants and toddlers an opportunity to pick out clothes and other necessities they may need during the summer months, according to Dominican Sister Loretta Maggio, who oversees the guild’s Emergency Assistance Program. 

Although the guild distributes baby items to mothers throughout the year as they are available, the idea for a summer baby shower evolved when Sister Loretta and EAP staff realized the significant amount of summer-related items for infants and toddlers the agency had on hand.

“It’s been wonderful to open our doors and have the mothers come in and choose the clothes they want for their children,” said Sister Loretta, noting that the more than 20 mothers who attended the baby shower are regular EAP clients.

Sister Loretta acknowledged that the collection of baby items, which also included toys and books, were either new or handmade and donated by several parish communities including St. Dominic, Brick, Our Lady of the Angels, Trenton, and St. Ann, Lawrenceville, as well as from individual guild supporters.

“We could not do what we do without the support of the community,” she said.

While the baby shower was geared for mothers, Sister Loretta said the guild staff was also pleased that the event created an internship opportunity for Ali Cellars, a member of St. James Parish, Pennington, and a senior in Pennington School, where she could gain hands-on experience in helping to coordinate the baby shower.

Cellars explained she came to the guild through her school’s Horizons program, which offers those seniors who are in advanced preparatory classes an opportunity to serve four-week internships in a site that “may be of interest to us in our future careers.” Because Cellars is interested in social work and education, she said that interning at Mount Carmel Guild “was a perfect match for me.” She added that she was familiar with the guild through having volunteered with its annual Thanksgiving food drive.

Commenting on the work of the Mount Carmel Guild and how much she enjoyed preparing for the baby shower, Cellars said, “In a way, I felt like I was able to help the moms to care for their babies.”