Here are some grand totals for you regarding the donations:
- 34 individuals/families donated
- Total items donated: 77 plus 3 completed bags
- Total money donated: over $1500!
With this amount of support Hailey's Hope easily reached our goal of 20 gift bags!
Hailey's Hope's first official gift bag delivery to the NICUs at The Children's Hospital in Birmingham will happen on Friday, June 11th!
As I mentioned, I am in the process of using the donation money to purchase items to fill as many bags as possible. I still have one more day of shopping to do (I hope I can get it all done in one more day!), and our package of stuffed animals and baby clothes donated by the readers of We Are That Family is on it's way. Hopefully I will be able to tell you exactly how many bags we will be donating SOON!
So with the delivery date quickly approaching in a week I am busy shopping, filling bags, and putting some unique, hand-crafted touches on each of them. If you'd like to see any pictures from my shopping trips, they are on our Hailey's Hope Facebook page.
And just a personal note...
Shopping for items to fill the gift bags has been an amazing experience. It feels so good and brings me comfort knowing that these items will be bringing someone else comfort and hope during the difficult experience of having their baby in a NICU. I keep imagining how I would have felt had I received any of these items when we arrived at the NICU to meet Hailey...Hopeful. Joyful. Happy. Comforted. Thankful. Moved. Loved. Encouraged. Uplifted. I will admit I had to stop myself from tearing up as I loaded items into my cart several times today because of all of this. They were definitely tears of joy and gratitude. And the support shown to me, to us, to Hailey, by friends and family just makes me so thankful and so happy. It really is truly moving, and words fail me.
You know, as I sat in Hailey's room tonight unloading bags and attempting to organize the chaos of items, I thought of how ... ironic?... is that the right word?... doesn't feel right... Mmm... let me start over and put it this way: One might think that seeing Hailey's dresser drawers full of 30 some pairs of socks and scratch mittens, boxes of baby blankets, bags of baby brushes, and so on being stored there for other babies would depress me - that seeing all of those items intended for other babies and not for my baby would open up that hole in my heart. Well yes in a way it is sad for me, but the hope that those items will bring comfort and joy to others completely overwhelms any 'negative' emotion that may be lurking around.
And I really just can't say enough how much everyone's support means to me. Without their/ your support, being able to share this joy and hope and these comforts with others would not be possible. I truly am so very grateful that something so positive is coming out of what could be a dark situation in losing Hailey. It really does feel good to be able to give to others and bless others who I have a shared experience with and make a difference. As you can see, this is not only going to be helping many families, but it is also helping heal me...
THANK YOU.
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