Memory Makers: 2007

Tuesday, March 6, 2007

Future Dates for Memory Makers Meetings

Thanks to everyone who came in January to help make photo albums and beaded bracelets. We're going to keep working on the photo albums since those take the most time of anything we put in the memory boxes.

We now have dates through the rest of 2007 for our meetings. We'll continue to meet at the Community Center for now, but I will also keep working on interesting some of the scrapbooking stores in supporting the project. Meanwhile, the upcoming dates are:

March 21
April 25
June 20
July 25
August 15
September 27
October 24

Time: 6:00 - 9:00 pm
Place: John W. Hensel Community Center
10701 N. College Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46280

At the March meeting, we will complete some of the boxes and get them ready to be taken to the hospital. We will continue to work on the photo albums and some of the individual pieces that go into the boxes.

Please invite a friend and come join us. If you have an idea for something that might be included in the boxes, please pass your idea along.

Blessings,
Mary

Memory Box Supplies List

8", 10", or 12" papier mache' boxes, (round, square or oval)
adhesives (double sided tape, scrapbooking adhesive, glue dots, pop dots, etc.)
Letter Beads (B, O, Y, G, I, R, L)
pink and blue ribbon
pink or blue baby themed embellishments (if lettering, "baby boy" or "baby girl", not "it's a boy" or "it's a girl")
pink or blue baby themed scrapbooking paper (12x12)
pink or blue scrapbooking cardboard 12x12
pink, blue or yellow flannel
pink, blue, white acrylic paint
pink, blue, yellow or baby print fleece

Welcome to Memory Makers!

Memory Makers is a group of ordinary people who get together to create Memory Boxes to be given by nurses at Clarian Hospital to parents who have experienced the loss of a child. Some babies are miscarried, some are stillborn, some die shortly after birth or in infancy and yet others experience some illness that proves fatal. All leave empty arms and grieving hearts. The Memory Boxes are simply decorated boxes which hold momentos of the baby's time here on earth, however short it may have been. A variety of items are created to place in the boxes, and nurses choose the items that are appropriate for each family. Everyone gets a handmade blanket in their box. Other items might include a photo album, a journal, cards for stamping the baby's hand and footprints, a box for a lock of the baby's hair, a beaded baby bracelet, a Christmas ornament, a small stuffed animal, a poem, a candle, a diaper, a pair of booties...The hospital also include a tape measure on which they mark the length of the baby and a small cap. These items are usually taken out of the box over and over again by grieving parents, often through many years, as precious reminders of their child. The memory box helps them during the early months of grief because it gives them a concrete place to focus their grief, and they are able to allow themselves to be comforted more quickly than those who have no focus for their mourning. All are welcome to join us in this project. Other hospitals besides Clarian provided boxes like these for their patients. We have chosen Clarian because it is in our neighborhood, and the people it serves are our neighbors, friends and family. There is no funding for this project, so donations of supplies are very welcome. I'll post a list of supplies that are needed on the blog. Bless all you who bless others. marykadams

Memory Makers

Tuesday, March 6, 2007

Future Dates for Memory Makers Meetings

Memory Box Supplies List

Welcome to Memory Makers!

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