It’s an unthinkable topic, newborns not making it home from the hospital. But now grieving families are getting a little help with a difficult task.
Donna Ulrich owns Hello Gorgeous Consignment Boutique, in Camp Hill. She’s collecting wedding dresses until the end of the month. Then, Ulrich will send the dresses off to Fort Worth, Texas. There, the non-profit, NicU Helping Hands sews dresses into garments for the babies to be buried in. The project is called “Angel Gowns.”
Ulrich says, “Something about that spoke to me and I could freely give it to be used in a beautiful way to honor a child and the mom that is grieving the loss of that child, so she doesn’t have to go out and buy something.”
Lindsey Weibley, of Southampton Township, Cumberland County, got married in 2009. After the wedding, she and her husband, Marcus, tried to have a child but they faced infertility. Lindsey got help at Hershey Medical Center and they were able to conceive.
The new mom is filled with joy but says, “We know too many young mothers who are beautiful and strong and have lost their babies and they experience pain no one should have to feel.”
That’s why she’s donating her wedding dress to those who are not as lucky.
Lindsey says, “We can help a mother, help a family in their grieving process, a small thing to be able to do.”
The women never planned on wearing the dresses again, but they’re honored someone else will.
You have until the end of the month to donate your gown. For more information, contact Hello Gorgeous Consignment Boutique.