Avi's Embrace is a division of Project Sweet Peas that is dedicated to providing comfort to the families of Indiana by donating packages for those with a child in the ICU as well as to families suffering the loss of their baby.
We at Teeny Tears are honored to provide Avi's Embrace with 50 diapers for their bereavement donations -- handcrafted by our very own Jana, Carol, and friends! These diapers have been donated in memory of Charles Avi Edward.
Learn more about Avi's story and see how Avi's Embrace is making a difference by visiting their website or by finding them on Facebook.
Do You Shop Online? iGive.com
Do you make any purchases online? Chances are that your favorite stores are members of iGive.com and they will donate a portion of your online purchase to your favorite diapering cause, Teeny Tears!
Thousands of stores are giving back to their communities by participating in iGive.com:
Carter's donates 1.2%
Hancock Fabrics donates 1.6%
Joann.com donates 3.2% (including gift cards!)
Old Navy donates 1.6% (including gift cards!)
Amazon donates .8% of your purchase**
And so. many. more!
**Amazon is a little weird in that you need to route through www.igive.com/Amazon for it to track and donate. Most other participating stores track automatically with your installed button.
Does this cost me anything?
NO! Registration is FREE. There are no fees at any time for your participation. No cost to you, nice donations for Teeny Tears!
How does it work? Do I have to know which stores are participating?
You do not have to know which stores are participating. When you register for iGive.com and choose "Teeny Tears" as your cause, you will download the icon to your toolbar. Whenever you purchase through a participating store, the purchases and donations will be automatically calculated! There is nothing for you to do except shop as normal! (And you have to keep the button installed for at least 90 days or it will reverse the bonus!)
How much will this benefit Teeny Tears directly?
When you sign up for iGive.com and choose Teeny Tears as your cause, iGive.com will give a $5 bonus to Teeny Tears just because you registered! If you make an online purchase within 45 days of signing up, Teeny Tears will receive ANOTHER $5 bonus! Beyond that, any purchases you make through participating stores will donate a small portion of your order directly to Teeny Tears.
What if I never shop online? Would this still help? What can $5 do for Teeny Tears?
$5 for Teeny Tears will purchase enough flannel, safety pins, and thread to soften the road of approximately TEN grieving families. We are passionate about providing modesty and dignity to the worlds tiniest angels. We shop sales and rely upon the generosity of others. We appreciate every scrap of fabric that is dropped on our doorsteps, each stack of diapers that arrives in the mail, and every dime that is contributed for shipping expenses and diaper-crafting materials. $5 would indeed be a meaningful contribution to our project.
Register for iGive today! Click here!
For Love of Daniel
My sweet TTTS friend Lisa is very involved in her local NICU Family Support program. One of the many ways she shows her love for the NICU families in her community is to donate micropreemie angel clothing and remembrance tokens to those who have lost their valiant battle. This year, she added Teeny Tears diapers to her donation. These clothing items may look big, but they are actually very very tiny -- for angels under two pounds.
All of these items have been donated to Inova Loudoun Hospital in Leesburg, Virginia in loving memory of her beloved angel son, Daniel Carl Hutchings.
"Softly the leaves of the memories fall,
Gently I gather and treasure them all.
Unseen, unheard you are always near,
So missed, so loved, and so very dear.
No longer in our lives to share,
But in our hearts you're always there."
~ Author Unknown
For Love of Spencer
As I have mentioned before, my life has been greatly blessed by my association with other families whose lives have been forever changed by Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome. Two such kindred spirits are Dana M. and Melissa J.
Dana and Melissa both lost one of their twins after hard-fought battles in the NICU, losing their fight to complications of TTTS and prematurity. Both of them have courageously sallied forth on their journeys, raising single survivors with Cerebral Palsy. Last December, Dana spent Wyatt's Angel Day tracing and cutting out diapers in his honor. When the surprise package of diaper pieces arrived on my doorstep from Canada, (first I cried. Then) I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them: start a TTTS diaper exchange. I would sew these diapers and donate them to a hospital in memory of another TTTS angel.
The internet makes for a very small world sometimes; as luck would have it, Melissa's boys were actually born just up the road from me before their family moved out of state. When she began making plans to come to town around her sons' birthday, I decided to surprise her when we met in person.
We enjoyed a memorable night that still makes me a little emotional. It was very hard for me to say goodbye. She received spontaneous kisses from Crew. I was able to show her the diapers that Dana and I had made in memory of her little Spencer.
I will be using this beautiful material to create diapers for Dana's angel.
My name is Megan and tiny little diapers make my world go 'round.
Fabric From Aimee
Very early in my journey, I connected online with my beautiful and generous friend Aimee, whereafter we became blog and email buddies. Her little miracle, Connor, was born just a few weeks after my boys. He had a rough and tumble 4 months in the NICU and is now a thriving little three year old! She and another NICU graduate mom created a blog and facebook page to support families that are going through or have survived the NICU experience.
The Sprik Family donated money for diaper fabric through our Teeny Tears Paypal account. I was able to buy several yards of beautiful fabric and I can hardly wait to tear into this pile!! Thank you so much, Sprik Family!
This post will embarrass her, but I'm too grateful to not post it :)
