If you're a fan of great parenting blogs, you may be familiar with the difficult story of our friends Mike and Heather Spohr, of the popular site The Spohrs are Multiplying. They experienced the unimaginable after the death of their daughter Maddie in 2009, and yet they channeled their efforts with so much positivity, eventually creating a successful charity that allowed them to send numerous support packs and needed technology to Level III NICUs around the country.
Over time, so many other organizations have started providing similar support, and the Spohrs spent a lot of time determining a new way to make the most difference.
So this week, in honor of would have been Maddie's eighth birthday, we are honored to share the new mission of Friends of Maddie with the hopes that you can support them -- or perhaps, they can support you.
The charity is now dedicated to helping newly bereaved families cope with the loss of a child by providing them with monetary grants. Heather explains on her site that while they will continue to work with NICUs and the March of Dimes, the Friends of Maddie grants will ease so many unexpected financial burdens following the loss of a child -- hospital bills, funeral costs, insurance claims and more -- in the way they believe will help families most directly.
Should you need to apply for assistance, or know someone who qualifies, all the info is on the Friends of Maddie website. Or if you think this is the kind of cause that speaks to you, considering donating to the Friends of Maddie for one of your end-of-year, tax deductible charitable donations.
It would even make a wildly thoughtful and generous holiday gift to make a donation in someone's name.
The loss of a child is a harrowing experience, and a most of us can't imagine just how we would hold up or what we would do if faced with it ourselves. So we remain amazed and truly moved by what how this remarkable family is leveraging their voices and social media presence in order to keep Maddie's memory alive, while helping parents in dire need to slowly rebuild their lives.
-Liz, Kristen, Serena, + the whole Cool Mom team
You can donate to the Friends of Maddie this holiday season as a great way to give to an amazing cause. For more information about the mission, Maddie's story, and how to apply, please visit friendsofmaddie.org. Also, read The Spohrs are Multiplying for updates, which is really a fantastic blog on its own.
