This local mom reached out to me to help with an upcoming pajama drive for Shawnee Mission School District. I love what she is doing to help the community and wanted to introduce her to everyone! Read on to learn more about Andrea Ourada! And stay tuned for ways to help her with the upcoming PAJAMA DRIVE!!
Meet Andrea Ourada
Tell us a little about yourself. Where do you live? I’m originally from Colorado but have been living in Lenexa for 17 years. How many kids do you have? I have one 10 year old son. Do you work outside of the home? I’m a Visionary Marketing Professional. What hobbies do you have? I absolutely love to organize when I’m not at the ball parks supporting my son Gehrig and his love for baseball. What is your favorite thing to do in the Shawnee Area? Catch a walking trail and see where it takes me.
What do you love about being a mom? I love that each day is different. My son teaches me something new every day and certainly keeps me on my toes. What is something you dislike about motherhood? Grocery shopping (ha). I feel like I spend a good portion of my week at the grocery store replenishing what my little food monster has eaten.
What has been the biggest surprise in motherhood? How much fun it is, I actually enjoy the constant to and from to each sport.
What are you passionate about outside of motherhood? Helping my community in any way needed.
What is something you wish you would have known before becoming a mom? I feel like I got a lot of great advice from my friends and loved ones. I wish I had paid better attention when they told me it would go by so fast. I remember bringing Gehrig home from the hospital and thinking “I don’t know how I’m going to survive the next 10 minutes alone with him” and in the blink of an eye he was 10 years old.
How do you practice self care? I am really bad at this but I’m working on getting better. I’ve recently started going on walks by myself to recharge.
What is one of your guilty pleasures? Gummy snacks, I can’t live without them!
Who has had the biggest influence on you and why? My mother, she is the strongest woman I know.
Are you involved in the community outside of motherhood? If so, tell us about it. Once my son started school I became active within the school PTA and looking for ways to volunteer and serve the school community. I started my PTA venture as the Clothing Coordinator, making sure the nurse had extra clothes for students if needed. With this position I found out that SMSD has a Clothing Center where anyone living within the school district can go get clothing/shoe items free of charge, no questions asked. The Clothing Center is where I saw firsthand the needs our community has, needs I was oblivious to. Things I took for granted like warm pajamas on cold nights for my son, were items that a lot of kids don’t have. So every year I host a Pajama Drive to benefit ALL school age children in need within the Shawnee Mission School District (whether you go to an SMSD school or not). I’m a firm believer that a good night leads to a good day. My ultimate goal is that no child go to bed cold. I accept donations of brand new (with tags) pajamas and online monetary donations. I provide pajamas from size newborn to youth 16-18. If you’d like more information about how you can help please email me at [email protected]
If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why? The ability to end worry because I feel like without worry you won’t have sadness and without sadness you won’t have anger and so on and so on. It’s like a domino effect to a clear heart and mind.
Stay tuned for ways to help Andrea with the Pajama Drive!!
