MHM started out as a breastfeeding support group for people here in Cullman, and it has blossomed into so much more. We now have 5,700 members, not only in Cullman, but all over the United States and in two other countries.”Valerie Shields
CULLMAN – On Saturday, March 5, Mothers Helping Mothers held their 2016 Expo at the old Abundant Grace Church. The event was free to the public and had more than 40 vendors whose booths had a little bit of everything from crafts to snacks to free massages and door prizes. No matter how old the guests were, there was a little something for everyone to enjoy.
Mothers Helping Mothers is a faith-based group that offers encouragement to ALL moms of ALL walks of life. They offer hope and love to the hopeless and to those who feel they’re alone in their walk of motherhood. They hope to help equip women with helpful resources and ideas so they no longer have to go through motherhood on their own.
“This is our third annual event, and it’s also the biggest event we’ve had,” said Tiffiney Crawford, MHM founder. “We’ve been so blessed to have parents from our community involved with the Expo; we even have one vendor who drove all the way from Florida to be here today,” she giggled. “Stuff like that just makes you want to pinch yourself to make sure it is real.
“There has been a steady stream of people walk through ever since we opened the doors at 10 a.m. this morning,” she continued. “Last year we had about 400 people, so this year we hope to have a lot more than that. At first we were worried about the location because it’s not on the same road, but that has not hindered us at all,” she beamed.
“We’ve been doing a lot of prayers and God continues to show out. It gives me goose bumps just thinking about it; it’s a huge blessing because we’ve almost doubled the amount of vendors from what we’ve had the last two years,” she said happily. “There were some that were worried that the venue was too small, but it’s not; it’s just perfect. We’ve put a lot of time, tears and sweat into this and it’s just been incredible to watch everything unfold. We cannot do all of this without giving God the praise.”
The group is all about unity and helping each other out. Friendships are made, and in the three years since the group’s beginning, it has grown by leaps and bounds.
“MHM started out as a breastfeeding support group for people here in Cullman and it has blossomed into so much more,” said Valerie Shields. “We now have 5,700 members, not only in Cullman, but all over the United States and in two other countries,” she smiled. “We have teen mothers as well as grandmothers in the group; there’s no age limit. You can come in as a new mom for advice or as an experienced mom who would like to give your advice. It is for everybody.
“MHM is basically a support group; we’re an online community,” she added. “It’s a private group where moms can get support and advice privately through Facebook. We also have monthly Mom’s Night Outs and play dates when the weather gets warmer. We try to do things for the community and things for moms to kind of help get everyone together.”
The 2016 Expo was a tremendous success and lots of happy moms came together to enjoy the day.
For more information about Mothers Helping Mothers, visit www.facebook.com/groups/momshelpingmomsal or email them at momshelpingmoms@gmail.com.
