At this gift-giving time of year, the Nassau County Health Department's Perinatal Services Network is playing Santa by donating baby clothes, toiletries, diapers, formula, winter coats and other personal items to the women and children at the Mary Brennan INN (Interfaith Nutrition Network.) The Mary Brennan INN, which feeds more than 200 people every day, is located in Hempstead.

Since many agencies which help the homeless are struggling to meet the needs of their clients, the Health Department's Perinatal Program Director, Andrea Gatewood, and Winthrop University Hospital's Director of Health Resources and Program Services, Anne Walsh Feeks, organized a gift drive among fellow Perinatal Services Network members.

The Perinatal Services Network focuses on improving birth outcomes and decreasing infant mortality rates throughout Nassau County through education, advocacy and needs assessment. For additional information about the Perinatal Services Network, please call the Nassau County Department of Health at 572- 0954.

The Perinatal Services Network includes:

Bethany House Catholic Charities Regina Residence

Concerned Citizens

Cornell Cooperative Extension

Economic Opportunity Council of Nassau - Healthy Start Program

Franklin General Hospital

Good Beginnings for Babies

Health and Welfare Council of Long Island, Inc.

Hempstead Village Police Department

L.I. Coalition for National Health Plan

March of Dimes Greater NY Chapter - LI Division

Mercy Medical Center

Mercy Women's Day Rehab

Nassau BOCES Parent Child Program

Nassau County Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Nassau County Correctional Center

Nassau County Department of Drug and Alcohol

Nassau County Department of Health

Nassau County Department of Social Services -Teenage and Parenting Program

Nassau County Youth Board

Nassau University Medical Center and the Community Health Centers

Nassau/Suffolk Law Services

North Shore L.I.J./Pediatric Mobile Unit

Planned Parenthood of Nassau County

Post Partum Resource Center of NY

SIDS Center, Stony Brook University

Winthrop University Hospital