As a case worker for Child And Family Services (CAFS) Ballarat's Childfirst Program, Ms Johnson visits the volunteer organisation almost every week to collect items for families in need.

"It has been a godsend to families," she said.

"With the clothes I am taking for the family today, the mum has five children under the age of 10. Two have severe behavioural issues. You can imagine her life is in crisis all the time.

"Being able to give them this gift gives them a smile and a bit of help. The parents are both unemployed and they can't afford these things."

Around 80 volunteers run Eureka Mums in Ballarat, working to re-home pre-loved nursery goods to support families in need.

The organisation helped almost 2000 children in the last financial year, equating to around half a million dollars worth of re-homed items.

Volunteers collect donated items, clean and check them and package them as a gift that can then be re-homed to families through case workers, or maternal child health nurses.

Eureka Mums operations mananger Trinsa Lewis said the organisation could assist with clothing for children up to 12-years-old, but the main focus was to provide items like cots, prams, car seats, nappies, clothing, blankets and toys for newborn babies.

"Every baby deserves a safe start in life. A baby doesn't choose what sort of situation they are born into, so we believe we can help them and at the same time we are stopping a lot of items going into landfill," she said.

Ms Johnson said many families in Ballarat could not afford to purchase items for their children - buying a basic priced cot, car seat and pram alone adds up to $980, and many struggling parents prioritise feeding their family.

"Families may be experiencing domestic violence, abuse, financial hardship, unemployment, be a single parent and can't afford items for their children," she said.

"Social workers work with families in hospital so when the baby leaves the hospital it is safe and the parents have everything they need. We get a lot of 14, 15, 16 year old girls who are pregnant and they haven't got anything. Eureka Mums fits them out with everything from wipes, to tissues, to cots to blankets to clothes."

Eureka Mums supplied CAFS with $92,000 worth of items in the last financial year, a number that shows the high demand for support in Ballarat.

CAFS is one of 33 agencies and 184 case workers using Eureka Mums' services.

Ms Johnson and Ms Lewis said they were hoping funding raised through a charity partnership with the Ballarat Foundation's Run For A Cause event would help support the longevity of the organisations.

Watch the Ballarat Foundation's video on the Run For A Cause event below.

All funds raised through the event will go toward covering Eureka Mums' operational costs, including electricity and rent.

"Unless we get donations through cash or through events like this, we can't keep the doors open and can't continue helping people," Ms Lewis said.

"We don't have the revenue stream because all our work is voluntary, we don't charge for the items and grants don't cover operational costs."

Participants can choose to support Eureka Mums when registering for Run For A Cause and part of their registration fee will be donated to the organisation.

Visit run4ac.org/ for more information and to register for the run.

Visit eurekamums.org/ for more information on how to donate goods to Eureka Mums.

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