Highlights
- The Team passed the 400 mark of items ever donated, counting single items (or pairs, if diapers or hats)! Over 350 of these items were donated in 2015!
- Over 250 bereavement clothing items were made by our volunteers in 2015!
- Bereavement clothing items were primarily donated within Tiny Treasures’s local area (Stillwater and Woodbury MN; Hudson and River Falls WI), but other receiving locations include Brooklyn Center MN, Cleveland OH, Derry PA, Eau Claire WI, Duluth MN, Milwaukee WI, and Las Vegas NV.
- In October, Tiny Treasures held our first ever online Wave of Light Remembrance Retreat touching eight families who have experienced loss.
- I built my own custom-designed database to track gifts coming in and going out of the Tiny Treasury so that I can knowledgeably answer questions like “Who made this gown for my baby? I want to know so I can thank her,” or “How many angel gowns were made from my wedding dress?” and to quickly ascertain what we have available when an emergency request is made by a family in the process of saying goodbye to their baby. Since I am not all that tech-y I have to include this as a highlight, because I'm super proud of this fact!
Our Impact
- 23 bereavement clothing items for babies under 16 weeks gestation
- 34 items for babies between 17 & 19 weeks
- 20 items for babies between 20 & 23 weeks
- 46 items for babies between 24 & 27 weeks
- 9 items for babies between 30 & 33 weeks
- 12 items for babies between 34 & 36 weeks
- 8 items for babies between 37 & 40 weeks
- 8 items for babies 0-3 months old
- 6 items for babies 3-6 months old
- 6 items for babies over 6 months old
- 38 angel gowns or suits
- 44 bereavement gowns or suits made from donated wedding gowns
- 30 pairs of bereavement diapers
- 26 blankets
- 5 pairs of knitted or crocheted booties or mittens
- 11 buntings
- 54 hats or bonnets
- 8 kimonos
- 2 angel pockets or wraps
- 2 sweaters
- 2 tunics
- 3 accessories
- Woodwinds Hospital (Woodbury MN): 72 -- TOP RECIPIENT
- Lakeview Hospital (Stillwater MN): 65
- Hudson Hospital (Hudson WI): 55
- Daisies and Sunflowers (Derry PA): 46
- Cleveland Minutemen for Life (Cleveland OH): 35
- Halos of the St. Croix Valley (River Falls WI): 23
- Essentia Health / St Mary’s Hospital NICU (Duluth MN): 12
- Morning Star Birth Center (Duluth MN): 12
- Mattie’s Memory (Milwaukee WI): 5
- Sacred Heart Hospital (Eau Claire WI): 3
- Family Friend (Las Vegas NV): 2
- Loss Family (Brooklyn Center MN): 2
Our Volunteers & Generous Friends
BRIDES TO BABIES PROJECT In 2015, 10 wedding gowns, 3 formal dresses and 2 veils were given to us for our Brides to Babies Project. Eight gowns were transformed into 29 bereavement gowns or suits; 20 bonnets; and 12 angel pockets. Most of these bereavement clothing items went to Halos of the St. Croix Valley (since most of the initial gowns entrusted to us came from them) but a few of the eight gowns transformed in 2015 were given directly to us or our seamstresses. The items made from those gowns were donated to Lakeview Hospital (Stillwater MN); Morning Star Birth Center (Duluth MN); Daisies & Sunflowers, a bereavement organization in Derry PA; and directly to loss families in Minnesota and Nevada. Seven other pieces of fabric and assorted yarn was also given by friends of Team Tiny Treasures to be made into bereavement clothing. |
In 2015, $580 was given to Tiny Treasures and our expenses were $230 (not counting $40 in GoFundMe fees which were paid before the funds were received).
- 78% of our expenses were for labels, packaging and shipping costs to mail Tiny Treasures
- 17% was spent on notecards
- 5% was spent on a book for the reference library