In Remembering Jonas: Providing Baby’s Headstones
we are increasing our fundraising goal to continue providing support to future families who may not be able to purchase headstones.
Each year in April, we make an intentional effort to honor our Jonas in a way that leaves the world around us a bit better of a place. We take what we would have spent for Jonas’ birthday, and we use it in his honor. With Jonas’ tenth birthday this year, we want to do something BIG.
And, WE NEED HELP.
Jonas is buried in an area, of the cemetery we chose, that’s called “baby land”. It’s actually quite gut wrenching when you think about it. A designated space for babies to be buried.......and there’s hundreds. For 10 years, every time we visit the cemetery, we can’t help but notice the number of babies who have no headstone on their plot. Some have a small paper marker that struggles to remain in place amidst the harsh elements of the weather, and others have absolutely nothing. We know there’s a baby buried in many of the places because we remember the fresh dirt sitting atop the plot indicating a burial had recently taken place. But before long, the grass grows over and had you not known, you might not ever know. And it breaks our hearts.
We are working with the cemetery and a local monument company to provide headstones for every single baby there. The monument company is finalizing their pricing, and offering a generous discount to help with our efforts. And, the cemetery is providing to the monument company the names and dates for each one of those precious littles. Each baby, who currently has no headstone, will receive a flat, gray granite gravestone that includes their name, their date of birth and date of death.
Our initial goal is to raise $5,000 to purchase headstones. We know this is a big ask, but we believe these babies and their families are worth it.
Should we have any funds “left over” after we purchase stones for the existing plots, we will offer assistance to future families who may not be able to afford a headstone for their baby’s plot.
You’ll notice in the picture, the small grassy spot to the right of Jonas’ headstone. There’s a baby buried there. And it’s our mission to place a gravestone on that plot {along with SO many others}, so that precious littles name can be seen, read, and remembered. ❤️
