By Hannah Laurie
JoyBundle is a cleaning gift service that caters for new families. It is the ultimate gift, allowing you to be there without physically being there. Like a JoyBundle gift voucher, a meal train is another practical way to gift time. A meal train is when a group of people take turns to take a meal to a new family. A home-cooked meal when you’re sleep deprived and looking after a new human who is yet to master the kitchen basics is a gift. You can streamline the process using the web page mealtrain.com. Here’s how…
Offer a meal train to the expecting family
Some couples are great at cooking and having people bring meals isn’t particularly helpful. Check if this is a form of help that they are interested in. If families are not interested in a meal train, perhaps a JoyBundle Cleaning Voucher will be more appealing. Conversations about logistical matters can be tricky (and annoying) with a newborn about. Make it easy and do it in the two-week period before the baby is due, when the excitement is building, and these ideas are a joy to discuss.
Gauge and gather
If they are keen for a meal train, gauge roughly when they would like the meals to begin. Often 3 days after birth is a helpful time as families tend to be home by then.
Marketing
Get a free account on mealtrain.com and set up the train. You will need some information from the family (another pre-baby job). Discuss with the family how you can share this meal train link with people. You don’t want to be the one accidently announcing the birth, so ensure any public/private announcements are approached with sensitivity. Make sure you include food allergies/dietary requirements.
Action plan
Once the baby is born, congratulate the family and get the final ‘go ahead’ for the plan.
Share the link
With the agreed approach, simply share the meal train link and let friends and family book in! Where possible, encourage the food to be delivered in disposable or ‘op shop’ dishes. This means that families do not have to keep track of dishes that need returning.
That’s the admin done – let the delicious meals roll in for the family!
Visit the JoyBundle website to find out more about their home cleaning gift service.
