In 2008, a group of bereaved parents came together to ensure that the vision set forth by the original founders of A Walk to Remember would live on. We were brought together by grief and a determination to ensure that not only a Remembrance Walk would happen to remember our children, but also that bereaved parents in Colorado would have the resources needed to get through such a difficult time.

A Walk to Remember Foundation, based in Littleton, Colorado, is a Non-Profit organization created to help those touched by all types of infant loss, including pregnancy loss, neonatal loss, stillbirth, and SIDs. It is directed by a dedicated group of volunteers whose lives have been touched by the loss of their child. To accomplish this mission we are dedicated to providing centralized bereavement support resources to those who need them, bereavement care packages to families who have recently suffered a loss, and bereavement education to medical professionals who are faced with patient care involving infant death.

In addition to the bereavement support resources, care packages and education seminars, the foundation also holds an annual “Walk to Remember” as an opportunity for families to come together to remember their lost children.

On Saturday, October 10th, this year’s Walk to Remember dawned cold and snowy, but a dedicated board of directors and volunteers were there to welcome hundreds of mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and friends of those who have lost children and remember their precious children.

Since 2008, the restructured Walk to Remember, has asked our constituents to be involved with our organization every step of the way. We had a goal of being able to supply the 30 plus hospitals along the Front Range of Colorado with the Care Packages that are created from the funds raised through our online auction and other fundraising efforts. We are so proud to say that we have been able to supply 450 care packages to over 20 hospitals. We have given to several hospitals who have never received care packages from us before. Thanks to more donations throughout the year, we should be able to expand the program to even more bereaved parents and hospitals.

We also have been able to involve more of our constituents than ever before through donating and volunteering. Over 100 care packages have been donated in honor of children through our Sponsor a Care Package Program, a program which will continue again this Holiday season. We have had 35 volunteers assemble and deliver care packages to hospitals on the Front Range. We have also added 4 new board members from among bereaved parents that attend A Walk to Remember.

We have also launched an Education and Awareness program. Thanks to the efforts of our education directors a curriculum has been written that has already been presented at Littleton Hospital with great feedback. This program opens a dialogue with the care providers that treat bereaved parents. We hope to spread the word about our care packages as well as our education program, opening up even more opportunities to help bereaved families in Colorado.

We are an all-volunteer organization, here to support bereaved parents and to honor all of our children.

Leslie A. Rutherford
President, A Walk to Remember
Mother of Annie