More than sports: Local volleyball club partners with project NICU

Nothing can compare to the emotions flooding through a newborn’s parents. However, these joyful feelings can be overshadowed by the stress of watching the child –someone the parents want to hug and take care– be hooked up to tubes and wires.

A local volleyball club, Iowa Select, is teaming up and helping Project NICU to give back to families who are currently struggling with infants in neonatal intensive care units.

Founded in 2018, Project NICU’s numerous services have benefited thousands of families.. The program presently works with 23 hospitals across 13 states. Project NICU also works alongside Betterhelp, a mental health platform that offers customers immediate access to online mental health treatments, offering a free counseling program to NICU families and has helped close to 300 people.

On Nov. 20, Iowa Select players, coaches and families gathered and put together bags of essentials for NICU families over the holidays. Senior Siena Roethler participated in the event. “I thought it was a great way to bring everyone together and work for a cause,” Roethler said. “It’s hard to imagine that things as simple as toothpaste and hand sanitizer could mean so much to people.”

Every year, it’s estimated that 15 million births are preterm, meaning they were born before reaching 37 weeks in a woman’s pregnancy. Thankfully, between 10 to 15 percent of babies end up in NICU services.

Iowa Select’s connection to Project NICU wasn’t coincidental. Amy Finn has been close with the club for a number of years. Whether it be sitting on the sidelines cheering on her husband Jim, who has coached within the club, and is also a member of the club’s board of directors.

Finn became connected with Project NICU after receiving help from their services herself. Her daughter Piper was born 7 weeks early and spent close to a month in NICU facilities. “After coming home it was important for us to not only find a community of support that truly understood our journey, but to also find a way to give back to our NICU medical team and support those families that would walk through those doors after us,” Finn shared.

Finn joined the team in October 2022. Besides just care packages and other goods, Finn’s goals for the program’s future will make a huge impact. “One item at the top of the priority list is bringing the first Project NICU Chapter here to the Quad Cities,” Finn explained. “This chapter will enable us to directly impact NICU families and medical teams here in our community.”

Finn, Iowa Select Volleyball and the works of Project NICU will continue to make an impact by working towards helping families of newborns in need.

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