During a time of grief, angel gowns can be a comforting reminder of your baby’s life. When a newborn is born and never comes home, Angel Gowns are offered to families as a tribute to their baby’s memory. These beautiful, hand-sewn burial gowns can be delivered to a hospital or funeral home to be used for memorial services.
When a baby dies, families may have no idea where to begin the process of preparing for the funeral. The Angel Gown Program, part of NICU Helping Hands, offers beautiful handmade garments to bereaved families. The project also helps women find purpose and empowerment through the creation of these gowns. The kits come with a special gown, a hat, a heart, and two memorial trinkets. The kits are perfect for smaller babies, up to newborns, and are great for funerals, memorial services, and first moments of death.
The Angel Gown Program is part of NICU Helping Hands, a nonprofit organization that provides practical support to families affected by the loss of a baby. The organization works to improve the lives of women and families around the world, while providing them with the opportunity to earn money and skills that they can use in their everyday lives. Through workshops and training programs, the organization is able to help women become more self-sufficient and better able to support their families.
The Angel Gown Program is run by volunteers, including nurses, seamstresses, and parents of lost babies. In order to maintain their organization, they need help with the cost of shipping the gowns. They also need donations for material. In addition to donations, the Angel Gown Program also asks for a monetary donation with each gown that is donated. This allows the program to provide a beautiful handmade garment to every family that loses a child.
A donation of $100 allows a donor to help complete the process of donating the angel gowns to a family in a developing country. This allows the donor to meet the seamstress virtually and follow the gown to its final destination. A donation of $30 also provides a family with hope. When a family loses a baby, they have to make a million decisions. The Angel Gown Program has never turned away a family, even if they have no funds for the shipping costs.
In addition to the Angel Gown Program, there is another organization that provides bereavement gowns. This nonprofit organization, Sunshine State Angel Gowns, provides beautiful burial gowns and keepsake angels to families who have lost a baby. The organization has a donation program, where they accept wedding dresses, and then repurpose them into beautiful, handmade gowns. These gowns are then delivered to a hospital or funeral home, and are also delivered with a prayer card and a keepsake angel.
The Levine Children’s Hospital started the Angel Gown Program in 2008. They were inspired by a friend, Deanna Williamson, who saw an ad for Angel Gowns on Facebook. She emailed them and requested them. The Williamsons lost their baby, Eli, at 20 weeks of pregnancy. Despite their loss, the Williamsons were able to receive an Angel Gown from the Levine Children’s Hospital.