Remembrance Box Making

We are so super excited to announce an event we have in the works.  We of course have had many, many box makings, but none quite like this.  This box making is unique in that you can come and create and assemble a box in memory of your baby, your grandbaby, your niece, nephew or friend.  What a great way to honor your baby while giving back to someone in need!

I remember so very clearly how alone I felt after saying hello and goodbye to DeLanee.  I felt as though I was the only person who had ever felt this pain.  I had just joined a very LARGE group of people who had experienced a similar loss, but at the time I felt very alone in my grief. Our hope with this box making is that when a future family receives a box from a family who has walked in their same shoes, they can feel comforted and loved and, most importantly not alone.  We want them to know that they were thought of and in receiving this gift they can feel how much they are cared for.

One of the greatest blessings in participating in this organization is the amazing people I have been able to meet and work with!  As we do these events, those that attend are those who share the common goal of helping others. So, not only will you be helping grieving families by attending this event, but what a great opportunity to come and connect with other families who are traveling the same path you are. 

We absolutely LOVE what we do!  I invite you come and join us and feel what we feel as we serve those around us who need it most!  Please, mark your calendars now for November 23, 2013 at 6:00 p.m. at the Mesa Marriott Convention Center in downtown Mesa.  It is really important that you pre-register for this event by clicking on the "donate" paypal button to the right.  In the comment section, please leave the name of your baby so that we may preprint stickers to go on the box.  It costs us $25.00 per box, which is the cost of this fundraiser.  Please share this event with your friends and family as well!

 

 

Walk(s) to Remember

In 1988, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed October as National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. October 15th is the specific date set aside where parents, friends and family can come together in love and support to remember a life that was cut short. 

 

Lanee's Legacy's slogan is "Healing Through Remembering" and so we welcome this special day and month as an opportunity to participate in planned events to do just that. . .REMEMBER.  We felt honored to be invited to two events this month by hospitals/groups who have went to a lot of time and effort to have a walk and event for bereaved families to come to in memory of their baby.  

 

Scottsdale's Healthcare's Walk to Remember:

 

 Scottsdale Healthcare has a very unique idea where they do a ladybug release for the children:

 

 

 

 

They had a balloon release:

 

 

"Chicks with Picks" provided the music.  This gal here was AMAZING! 

 

Thanks to Susan at Scottsdale Healthcare for letting us be a part of their special day! 

 

BANNER DESERT'S WALK TO REMEMBER:

 

On October 19, 2013 we attended Banner Desert's Walk to Remember.  This is Banner Desert's 21st year at planning this event and they certainly know how to make it so extremely special for families.   It was such a great day seeing familiar faces and meeting new ones.  It is always so humbling to see how many lives have been touched by the loss of a baby.  

 

 

We appreciated the opportunity to speak at this event as it gave us the opportunity to thank those that support us all year long!   

 

 

Our booth:

 

 

 

 

I want to especially thank those that came and helped us with our booth this day.  No member of Lanee's Legacy has ever been paid for the service and time they provide.  They haven't even ever been reimbursed for their personal expenses.  We simply love what we do!!  Thank you especially to Emery Westover, Rachel Davenport and Kami Perry for all their help!



Radio Show Opportunity!

What a fun and exciting week for us!  Lanee's Legacy was presented with an awesome opportunity to be a guest on the radio show "Candid Conversation Wise Counsel" where I was interviewed about our organization, what we do and how others can help. 

Boy, was it different that our previous experience with live television!!   It was considerably more laid back and easy to just sit and talk with someone about something so important to us. Not to mention, there was no hair and make-up to fret over (instead just how weird my voice sounds). Anyway, we're super excited for it to air and the potential prospects and opportunities it may provide us to continue to grow. 

Please tell your friends and tune in tomorrow, Saturday, June 1st at 8:30 p.m. on 960 AM The Patriot to hear the interview.  

Update

Wow, has it been a long time since we have updated our blog!  To those who do not follow us on Facebook or are not in some way directly associated with one of us personally, it would appear that Lanee's Legacy has slowed down or ceased to continue to operate.  To clear things up, Lanee's Legacy has continued to grow as we have added more hospitals (we now serve over 20 in Arizona), schedule box making service opportunities and send boxes all across the country as we offer support to grieving families. 

The blog, however, has sadly been neglected.  Remember, none of Lanee's Legacy's members are paid for the services they provide and must work their "day job" and attend to their families on their off hours of offering service through this organization.  All of us, however, are passionate about service and more specifically helping those who are going through the unimaginable experience of losing a child.  With that being said, many members of our team have recently undergone many life changes of our own including moving, marriage, being a foster parent, new pregnancies. . .just to name a few.  Life is certainly busy!

To give you a quick update on what we have been doing, its exciting to report that last year (2012) we were given another award.  We were the February recipient of the "Golden Rule" award from Republic Monetary Exchange and 92.3 KTAR.  We received $1,000.00 and a commercial that was aired for thirty days about our organization.  Thank you to Michelle Baker for nominating us for this award!

We were also invited to an LDS Women's conference where we assembled 200 boxes in 4 hours!!  WOW!  In case you don't realize, that is a huge undertaking!  Kathryn Montgomery is our Productions Manager and had it not been for her and her exceptional organization skills and driven attitude, we would not have been able to pull this off.  The theme was "By Small and Simple Things" which seemed very appropriate and fitting for us to be a part of.   We hosted many box makings throughout the year including participating in the Miss Arizona's Service project for the second year.  We felt it an honor to be invited back a second time.  Long story short, we donated 407 boxes  in the year of 2012. 

We continue to have families who request to "host" a box making and invite friends and family to assemble boxes in memory of their babies.  These families are typically those who have received a box at the time of their loss and then give back to other grieving families as they host an event.  Its both a touching and humbling experience as we get to see things come full circle.  Below are pictures of two of the box makings we did in 2012 with families: 

The Schlageck family.  In memory of baby "Jorren".

The Coronado Family.  In memory of baby "Michael Rae".

For 2013, our numbers are already exceeding what they were in 2012.  In the first three months of this year we have already donated 127 boxes.  We currently serve 26 hospitals in Arizona and also send boxes to hospitals in other states as they request them.  We are touched as we receive e-mails, letters and comments of those who have been recipients of our services which only inspires us to continue forward. 

Our next box making is scheduled for April 17, 2013 which will be hosted by Lisa Olsen who is the beareavement coordinator at Banner Thunderbird's NICU.  We are looking foward to this special event as Lisa will be speaking from a nurse's perspective before we assemble the boxes.

We appreciate your support and hope you'll continue to spread the word about us.

Set your DVRs!

We have some very exciting news to share with you!

Thanks to a couple of our mother's who support our organization, we were nominated and chosen to be the May, 2011 recipient honoree of an award called "12 Who Cares" from News Channel 12!



We are both honored and exited to participate in this and sincerely appreciate the opportunity to create awareness and involve others in our cause to support bereaved parents. We feel like this is a tremendous blessing to our organization and sincerely thank those who believed in us enough to nominate us.

So. . .the date is set for a week from today! Set your DVRs to watch Arizona Midday next Tuesday, May 3rd between 1:00 and 2:00. If your a News Channel 12 fan, you will also see a commercial going on and off for the entire month of May about our organization as well.


Also included in this award is a donation in the amount of $1,200.00 and a luncheon that we will get to attend. We're so exicted about all of this!

Sponsor a Box(s)

There are many ways to assist and help our organization and we particularly love this idea and wanted to share. Although Lanee's Legacy began in remembrance of DeLanee, it is something that we would like ALL moms, families and supporters to feel a part of. Last fall, we received a very generous donation from a loving family who wanted to do something in their baby's honor, Gavin Macrae. We received a check in the amount of $1,000 to our organization. We were overwhelmed with their generosity and wanted anyone who received a box to know that the box that they were receiving was made possible because of Gavin. Since that time, we have donated 40 boxes in his name to our list of hospitals.

This is what 40 boxes looks like:

When a mom receives a box, she will notice on the bottom of the box that a fellow mom who has also experienced a loss gave back to her. I hope that when she sees this that she will know that she is not alone. That she will feel the love that Gavin's family had for her by helping her to receive a box.

One of the labels on 40 of Gavin's boxes:

If your interested in doing this, here is how the numbers break down. One box costs approximately $25.00 to create and fill. When we hold a box making, we put together 40 boxes. . .which equals $1,000.00. We welcome your sponorship in the form of just one box or you can host a box making night by helping us to complete 40 boxes. We have also received donations from businesses who would like to show mother's their support in this same way. Recently, Drs. Bock and Connel at American Family Chiropractic and Rehab also donated $1,000.00 in which we will put a label on the bottom of the box so that mother's know that their business is one that cares for them and what they are going through. If you have any questions about this or would like to host a box making night, please don't hesitate to contact us.

************************************************************************************ On another note, our two box making nights for the month of April will take place in Snowflake Arizona. A portion of the boxes we put together will remain in the White Mountain area at Summit Hospital and the rest will be distributed to valley hospitals. If you live in the White Mountain area and would like to come, here's the details of these box making nights:

- Thursday, April 28th at 6:30 p.m. will take place at the LDS Chapel by Pioneer Park in Snowflake, AZ.

- Saturday, April 30th at 9:00 a.m. will take palce at the LDS Chapel near the golf course in Snowflake, AZ.

Snowflake and Taylor is actually where a lot of the Lanee's Legacy board members have grown up and still have roots to. I just love how in small towns, no specific address is needed. Directions are always given in the form of "go past the big oak tree, turn right after the cattle guard and then left when you see Mr. Flake's old red horse". HA! Totally off the subject though, right?

Anyway, feel free to come, participate and bring whoever you would like. Can't wait to visit our home town and put these boxes together with so many familiar faces!

Box Making in Suprise, Arizona

A few weeks ago we went to Suprise, Arizona to do a box making with Kami Perry and some of her friends who have also lost babies. You may remember Kami from her sharing the story of her sweet boy Kooper right before our breakfast fundraiser.

This was a different experience for us. It was very tender. We have been to box makings before knowing that their had been moms who had received a box, or, experienced the loss of a baby. What is different about this one is that their were 4 mothers who had all had a loss within the last 2 years!! We were so sad to hear this. They invited those women to tell the stories of their babies before we got started. We really enjoyed the opportunity to listen to them as they shared their stories. They all did so wonderful. I know it was very hard for some of them. Their was one lady who's loss was very, very recent and raw and we appreciate all of them. You could tell that they were very tight knit and you could see how their trials had brought them closer and how they have leaned on each other and helped each other through the challenging moments.

Below (left to right) in between the black shirts are:

Cheri, Jessica, Kami and Christy:

Kami's blog has much better pictures than what we ended up with, so I'd like for you to visit her blog to see how our night went and hear her perspective of doing the boxes. You can see it here. Christy, who has received a box, also has blogged about this night and you can view it here.

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If you are interested in attending a box making night like the one above, we want you to feel welcome to come. I know this is short notice, but we have two box makings in Feburary and they are coming up pretty quick

The first one is on Thursday, February 10th, in Queen Creek at 7:00 p.m. The address is: 22424 S Meridian Rd., Queen Creek, AZ 85142.

The second one is Tuesday, February 15th in North Mesa at 7:00 p.m. The directions I have is that it is at the 68th block of Preston in NE Mesa. 1 block west of Power and north of McDowell.