When Kit Jenkins’ military husband came home from deployment, he had a back injury that made it difficult to hold their baby daughter, so he strapped his baby into a carrier and found that it worked wonders. He wore the carrier until his second daughter was born two years later. When he was deployed again, his wife Kit found that she was able to manage raising a toddler and a newborn at the same time all on her own, thanks again to this simple piece of cloth. With several other military families in her neighborhood, the D.C. mom realized they might be going through the same thing, too. She asked her friend Rachel to come on board and together they started The Carrying On Project, which gives away carriers to military families in need. According to local affiliate My FOX DC, the non-profit has given away just over 1,000 carriers all for free.
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This small organization is run straight from Kit’s kitchen. To receive a carrier, families simply need to fill out an online form, and The Carrying On Project will make the request through companies. They’re also able to obtain carriers through donations. The concept is easy, but it’s hard work; Jenkins told the T.V. station that she gets about 100 requests a month and has another 200 families on the waiting list.
According to their website, The Carrying On Project’s goal is “to help get carriers to the families of our military so that they may better obtain secure attachments with their children, something that deployment and injuries will often interrupt.” Sounds like an amazing way to help military families get close and stay close—literally.