Three Key Biscayne organizations teamed up to sew and collect onesies, bibs, socks and handmade baby blankets for families with newborns in neonatal intensive care units across Florida.

ArtCares for Kids, the Key Biscayne Creative Sewing Group and the Key Biscayne Community Foundation (KBCF) created the items for ICU Baby, a Florida nonprofit that helps parents stay at their babies' bedsides by removing financial and emotional barriers, the Islander News reported.

The KBCF announced the collaboration on Instagram on Aug. 6, calling it an example of neighbors coming together to support families in need. The foundation, based at 240 Crandon Blvd., Suite 108, said it was proud to celebrate the effort and the comfort the gifts would bring to NICU families.

Clinical art therapist Liz Portuondo co-founded ArtCares for Kids in 2010 with Tania Quintana and Dorian Rosen. The trio started the nonprofit to help children in the pediatric oncology and transplant units at Jackson Memorial's Holtz Children's Hospital.

"Art provides a nonverbal way for children to express their feelings and traumas," Portuondo told the Islander News. "It helps them assert their individuality and prevent their illness from defining who they are."

The group has since expanded. It now serves children in medical settings across Miami dealing with psychological, emotional and physical challenges. Its latest effort turned that mission outward, putting handmade goods directly into the hands of NICU families.

Elizabeth Simonton and her husband started the NICU Families Fund in 2014 after their own NICU experience. ICU Baby grew out of that effort in 2015 to broaden the fund's mission, according to the NICU Parent Network. The organization says no baby should be without their parents at the NICU bedside because of financial or emotional barriers.

ICU Baby's 2023 budget totaled $678,394, including $50,000 from the Peter and Anna Kolchinsky Foundation, $23,333 from United Way Miami and $22,925 from the Ocean Reef Community Foundation. A recent Mightycause campaign raised $121,755 from 185 donors, surpassing its $100,000 goal.

Residents interested in supporting ICU Baby or learning about volunteer opportunities can visit the organization's website at icubaby.org. The KBCF can be reached at (305) 361-2770 or [email protected].