Press Releases

“Funds for this donation to Grove Creek where raised by the Little Joys Foundation and the Ramirez family who lost their triplets on August 16, 2016,” said Erica Willenbring, executive director of the Little Joys Foundation. “Our goal is to ensure other parents throughout Idaho who have a similar experience have the much-needed but brief time to bond with their babies.”

The names of the Ramirez triplets were: Maria de Guadalupe, Maria de Jesus, and Maria del Carmen.

The mission of the Little Joys Foundation is to ensure that every hospital in Idaho has a CuddleCot. The Foundation was just two hospitals away from achieving their mission. And in an effort to pay it forward, Grove Creek made a $2,764.00 donation to the Little Joys Remembrance Foundation for the next hospital to receive a CuddleCot, which will be the Clearwater Valley Hospital & Clinics in Orofino, Idaho.

Willenbring understands all too well what the Ramirez family experienced when they lost their triplets. Six years ago, Willenbring and her husband welcomed triplets of their own into the world. However, they were born too soon and passed away shortly after birth. Unfortunately, a CuddleCot was not an option for the Willlenbrings in 2014.

“In the unfortunate event that this happens to parents at our facility, we are blessed that the Little Joys Foundation have made this generous and touching donation,” says Helena Callister, OB manager at Grove Creek. “For parents who experience the loss of a baby, they will be so grateful to have this gift—the precious gift of time to spend with their angel.”

In addition, at Grove Creek, parents who have lost babies are given special keepsakes such as memory books with handprints and footprints, hospital armbands, blankets, and photos placed in a memory box.

For additional information about the Little Joys Foundation’s mission, Willenbring and a bereavement coordinator were recently in the news discussing the placements of CuddleCots throughout the region. The segment can be viewed here:

https://www.kivitv.com/news/little-joys-remembrance-foundation-provides-idaho-hospitals-with-cuddle-cots

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More about the Little Joys Remembrance Foundation and CuddleCots

So many families have had a baby shower, decorated the nursery, picked out a name, and dreamed of their future with this new Little Joy, when suddenly faced with the unimaginable and unexpected loss of their child. They are given such little time to hold, cuddle, dress, and kiss their sweet baby before being forced to say goodbye forever.

At that moment, time is what matters most. A CuddleCot provides this precious time.

Developed in the United Kingdom and brought to the U.S. in 2013, the CuddleCot is an in-room cooling unit, the size of a small humidifier, disguised inside a baby basket. Its purpose is to lower the baby’s temperature to slow the physical changes of the infant after he or she has passed; allowing families to spend more time with the child.

For additional information, please visit:
https://www.littlejoysremembrancefoundation.org/about.html

Little Joys Remembrance Foundation Contact