Brooke’s Backpacks
From day one, every NICU family seen and supported
Brooke’s Backpacks provides backpacks filled with practical essentials, encouragement, and comforts for NICU parents of premature babies.
Brooke’s Backpacks, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting families of premature babies in the NICU by providing backpacks filled with practical essentials, encouragement, and comforting items, designed to meet parents’ real needs during long days and late nights at the hospital visiting their baby in the NICU.
Our backpacks are gifted to families of babies born at 30 weeks’ gestation or earlier, as these infants often experience longer NICU stays. With every backpack we deliver, our team is committed to praying for the babies and families receiving them.
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About Us
The Heart Behind Brooke's Backpacks
In November 2025, our daughter Brooke was born suddenly and unexpectedly at just 25 weeks and 6 days, weighing 2 pounds, 2 ounces. In an instant, my husband and I’s world was turned upside down.
A few days into our journey, my cousin - a NICU mom herself - gifted me a backpack filled with thoughtful essentials and small comforts. That backpack became my armor. It held everything I needed and was a tangible reminder that I was not alone.
Today, Brooke’s Backpacks exists to extend that same comfort, encouragement, and hope to families walking their own NICU journey.
““Receiving a backpack in the beginning of my NICU journey for my daughter was the first and probably one of the only things that helped me feel prepared for my daily trip to the hospital. This bag became known as my NICU emotional support bag. There wasn’t a day I went to the hospital without it.””
Our Impact
““The night I went into labor was the hardest and scariest thing in my life. Not having anything for myself or my son, I went into the NICU to see my son, and I was gifted a backpack that had stuff in it to help me and it was beautiful. I got to meet the amazing woman and her daughter Brooke that gifted it to me.””
Since 2026…
8 backpacks donated
1 NICU partnership
and counting…
Contact Us.
Jennifer Vander Zee
Founder & Board Chair
For general questions, partnership opportunities, or speaking inquiries:
founder@brookesbackpacks.org
Connect with us on Instagram:
@brookesbackpacks