I'm a follower of Emily over at Jones Design Company.
Have been for a long time.
Her taste is exquisite and her talents are endless.
I was doing my normal blog walk when I read her post about Charity: Water. She encouraged each of us to find a cause we are passionate about & blog about it.
I often feel guilty for mentioning our foundation. I don't know why but I do.
It was founded in January 2008 in memory of our daughter, Parker.
She was born with a rare birth defect known as congenital diaphragmatic hernia.
The survival rate is 50/50.
After 20 hours of fighting she took her last breath in her Daddy's arms.
She forever changed our lives.
In a way we never imagined.
We made her a promise that we'd never let any other family know the helpless & loneliness that we knew during the journey.
We started Parker's House in May 2008.
A house that we ran that allowed families to stay for free while their baby received treatment at either UNC Chapel Hill or Duke University Medical Center.
After two years we had to shut the house down but because of it we were able to help 14 families.
We partnered with Duke and UNC hospitals.
We were featured on the front page of the News Observer.
We were even featured on Perfectly Imperfect!
We were a small non-profit that did big things.
In November 2010 we decided to take a break from it all.
Two of our board members had just had babies & we found out we were pregnant.
We hope to start back up in January 2013.
We still help families that approach us with gas cards, meals, hotels, etc.
I am constantly in awe of the people who support our foundation.
We very truly blessed to have done what we have.
And we are excited about the future.
March 31st is Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Awareness Day.
I'm asking each of you to please wear turquoise to help us raise awareness.
Eighteen Hundred Families a year will be diagnosed.
One Hundred Fifty families a month.
Thirty-five families a week.
Half of them will lose their baby.
I hope that each of you have a cause that is near to your heart.
If you do please let me know in the comment section so I can check it out.
And if not I encourage you to find one.
Hope everyone has a great Monday!
Do NOT feel guilty!!! There is no shame in promoting such a wonderful cause! You are amazing!
ReplyDeleteJess,
ReplyDeleteYou know I found out about Parker from another CDH family and because of everything you shared, I learned so much about a birth defect I had never heard of. Even as a Special Education major. Although I do not "personally" know a family who experienced the CDH journey, I appreciate all that you have done to raise awareness. I am excited to see what else you do for families of CDH. God has truly blessed you!!
I have always been supportive of Special Olympics. I coached a S.O. swim team in Ohio for 4 years and in California for another 4 years. Special Olympics brought me so much joy that I hope to be able to get involved again in a few years (once the kids are older).
Katie,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much!
Terra,
ReplyDeleteI can't thank you enough for being so supportive of our mission. And for always praying for us, the foundation and the families we helped. I'm excited about the new direction we are planning for the foundation.
The Special Olympics is an amazing organization. They are blessed to have you be a part of their mission.