Baby Bloom 2026 Fills Grandview's Halls with Growing Families
EveryStep and Healthy Start Consortia’s annual celebration of motherhood and growing families returned on March 28th. Just like the families that it serves, Baby Bloom continues to grow. In 2026, the fifth annual festival moved to Grandview University on the east side of Des Moines and may have been the biggest one yet!
Parents started lining up early to receive dozens of giveaways for their kids, sign up for raffles, get a free lunch, and learn about and sign up for medica and dental coverage for their families. 200 ‘swag bags’ prepared for attendees were all gone within the first 90 minutes of the event starting and all of the hundreds of bags and tons of fresh produce were all claimed as well.
This year’s event also marked the last day with EveryStep for Baby Bloom’s creator, Lanette Nelson. Lanette was the first one to arrive on Saturday morning and the last one to leave after cleanup was complete - a testament to Lanette’s dedication to the community and families that she served for decades at EveryStep.
