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The wonderful Young Women of the Desert Sage Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spent an evening tracing, cutting, and ironing diapers. These lovely young ladies have great compassion for the angel families that receive these little tokens of love; they are always eager to pitch in for diaper service.
I took the diaper pieces home to sew up and they are ready for delivery! These 40 little treasures will be donated to LDS Hospital of Salt Lake City, Utah.
As a passionate diaper activist in her own right, Vanessa has officially joined the Teeny Tears team as my partner in crime behind the scenes. We are on an ambitious quest to Diaper the World.
Meet Vanessa!
Vanessa is an amazing mom to three special little angels: Adam, Cayla, and Marley. She had been looking for an economical and unique project to do in honor of her babies when she stumbled across our project through Utah Share and loved it. She immediately organized a sewing event and posted it on FB, inviting friends, family, and fellow angel mamas. They answered the call, packing along sewing machines, scissors, safety pins, and all the flannel they could carry!
These super sewers labored to create 412 diapers. 160 have been donated to photographers of NILMDTS of SLC and are not pictured. These diapers below (all 252 of them) have been donated to Jordan Valley Hospital, Pioneer Valley Hospital, Tooele Hospital, and the University of Utah Hospital. Some have been donated in memory of Adam, Cayla, and Marley Pollard. Some have been donated in memory of Evan and Isaac Marsh. Some have been donated in memory of MaRee Cowart. All beloved angels, gone too soon.
The 412 count does NOT include this exciting stack of leftover unsewn pieces!
Vanessa invited me via email to attend her grand sewing event and I was thrilled to go. It was a fantastic experience. (Some of the following photos were taken by me; the better ones were taken by Vanessa's talented photographer friend, Lara.)
Vanessa posted many wonderful things on the wall, including WHY she was doing the project (click to enlarge and read their beautiful story). Elsewhere she posted full sewing instructions for the crafting teams.
Great event, great people, great food, great feeling.
For the generous group of families that contributed in so many ways to the creation of these diapers, I post a thank you message from the bereavement coordinator for three of the hospitals that received these diapers:
"I am in receipt of the beautiful hand made colorful cloth diapers that were so lovingly made for our tiny patients.
I first want to express the gratitude of our families at receiving such a lovely handcrafted item. Please understand that they want to keep everything that their baby has worn, including the diaper. Suffering heartbreak and loss of such a tiny innocent baby is tragic but thoughtful little items like these help them understand that people care about them, their baby and what they are going through.
All of the items have been appreciated and I am overwhelmed by the thoughtfulness of this gift. Each and every diaper will be lovingly given to and used on an angel baby.
Giving to others is tremendously healing and brings a sense of comfort in knowing that we are serving humanity. As the chaplain at our facilities, I send thank-you’s from everyone as they marvel at the beautiful work. Again, thank you from the families who so appreciate what you are doing."
My friend Stacie invited me to speak to the women of her church congregation for a Relief Society Night of Service. We enjoyed a dinner of fake Cafe Rio deliciousness, I spoke for about 20 minutes, and then the ladies fired up their sewing machines to make 108 diapers for families serviced by the Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah! They were able to finish 75 onsite; volunteers collected the rest to finish at home during the week.
Several women donated flannel; aren't they so adorable? A little fabric goes a long way! Did you know that (if you are very very extremely careful) you can make 8 "big" diapers and 8 tiny diapers with just one yard of fabric??? That's what my sister was able to pull off, though I can't claim to have had the same success...
One of the evening's Super Sewers works as a nurse in the Labor and Delivery unit at IMC. She delivered all the diapers to IMC herself and knows just how needful they are for the tiny angels and their families. I am so glad we could be a part of Service Night! Thank you, Stacie, for the kind invitation, amazing food, and wonderful evening with your neighbors!
