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When local anime artist, mother of two, and Redwood City resident May entered her baby into Colossal’s Baby of the Year competition, she had two primary goals beyond simply winning. She was motivated to help raise money for Baby2Baby, a national nonprofit that provides essential baby products to families in need, and to have her nine-month-old daughter serve as a beacon of hope for those experiencing pregnancy loss or other crises.
Hosted by Jessica Alba and managed by their fundraising partner, Colossal, the Baby of the Year competition attracts over 400,000 entrants nationwide and is intended to generate friendly online competition, whereby parents share personalized promotional pages to generate votes for their child through a nine-round elimination process. Throughout the tournaments, the judges – in this case, friends, family, and the general public – have the opportunity to cast a vote once daily for free. Additional votes can be made with a donation and in its 2024 inaugural run, the contest raised over $24 million for Baby2Baby.
May, who asked that her full name not be used to protect her family’s privacy, entered her daughter Ayla into the competition in September. Along with potential bragging rights and prize money if her daughter were crowned Baby of the Year, May also hoped Ayla’s story would offer hope to those experiencing a personal crisis like her own. May’s parenting journey involves the loss of her baby girl, Luna, at 25 weeks of pregnancy, whom she and her husband named after the Spanish word for moon. After discovering they were expecting again soon after this tragedy, they wanted to honor their late daughter by choosing a new name with a similar meaning.
“I still hold the name near and dear to my heart. And so when my husband and I were talking about it, we wanted to still honor her…but not feel like she’s being essentially replaced, because I don’t feel like that’s healthy,” May said. The name Ayla means halo of moonlight in Turkish.
By the seventh round of the contest, Ayla was in the top 1% nationwide. May had raised even more than the prize amount of $25,000 through what she describes as a “mini campaign,” in which she shared her daughter’s story through various social media channels. And while Ayla didn’t ultimately get named as Baby of the Year in this mega contest, May remains committed to supporting Baby2Baby, which she credits with filling a huge gap in providing necessary baby products to low-income families across the US, as well as those experiencing a crisis.
“That is honestly, I would say – to get to the root of the whole thing – why I wanted to have her participate in this competition. My inspiration came from helping families and babies who should have access to these essentials,” May said.
According to Baby2Baby’s website, the nonprofit provides essential items to more than one million children across the country in homeless shelters, domestic violence programs, foster care, hospitals and underserved schools, as well as to children who have lost everything in the wake of disaster. Recently, this included providing emergency relief in the form of diapers and formula to victims of the LA fires. Since its founding in 2006, the organization has received a steady stream of celebrity, royal, and political endorsements and was included in Time Magazine’s 2023 TIME 100 Most Influential Companies list.
“I know that we didn’t make it further into the competition, but I don’t think that should… keep us from donating,” May said, who also discussed giving a portion of the proceeds from her Japanese-inspired art to Baby2Baby via a customized painted shoes campaign.
“This is something that we should provide for families, especially with all the budget cuts and all these organizations having to close down. I think it’s vital that we come together and at the bare minimum, help families receive essentials,” May said.
Anne-Marie Pritchett, Communication Director of Colossal, the organization that distributes funds raised for the 2025 Baby of the Year Competition, said she is hopeful the campaign will once again raise over $24 million in its second year.
“We’re deeply passionate about raising funds for our charity partners. The impact they create with the support generated through our competitions is truly life-changing,” Pritchett said.
And as for Ayla’s stint in the limelight, May says that at just 9 months old, she already has “her own little personality and is very photogenic.” May could see Ayla going down the baby modeling track. “She definitely has the charm and the personality for it.”
To read more about the work of Baby2Baby, visit https://baby2baby.org/.
