How You Can Help
Be a Stitcher
Please note: as of May, 2022, all kits for stitching have been distributed. If you are available to assist someone who cannot complete their commitment, please email mary@maryvaneecke.com and I will put you on the list.
- Email me at mary@maryvaneecke.com to request a kit of 100 pairs of pre-cut, embellished booties ready for stitching. I will hand deliver and pick-up kits in southern Arizona and ship kits outside this area at no charge to you.
- I will include some information on how we can improve care for infants and save little lives.
- Stitch your booties by hand and/or machine. A link to a how-to short video is here. Get some friends to help if you like.
- If you wish, make your booties in honor of loss parents or in memory of a lost child.
- Schedule a pickup or ship the booties to me. An entire kit will fit in a USPS Medium Sized Flat Rate Priority Mail box and will ship for about $20. Be sure to complete the paperwork so that I may have that information for the web.
- Your booties will make up one square on the installation image and you will be able to locate them when the installation is complete.
Be a Panelist
Please note that all panels have been assigned as of May 2022. Please see below for how to make baby booties.
- These intrepid supporters and guilds/bees/other groups will make or collect 100 pairs of baby booties to form one piece of the 225 piece puzzle that makes up the the image below. Think that is too much? Nanci Elf shows you how to make 60 pairs in under 6 hours. Click here for the video. To be a Panelist, email Mary Vaneecke at mary@maryvaneecke.com for your panel instructions. You will make 100 pairs of booties to create a very specific piece of the overall image, just like we are trying to solve the ‘puzzle’ of infant mortality. Don’t want to make a panel all on your own? This is a wonderful group project. Ask a friend or 2 or 10 to help. Please email mary@maryvaneecke.com to find out what your panel pattern is. Your pattern will determine what color booties to make.
- For instructions on how to complete a panel, click here.
Make Baby Booties
- Get a group together and sew, crochet or knit ten pairs of baby booties each–in white, gray or black (embellish them in any color you like). Treat each one as a tiny elegy for a too-brief life. READ THE DONATION FORM BEFORE YOU SEND YOUR BABY BOOTIES. It has instructions on how to present the baby shoes.
- Make a pair of baby booties (see details on donation form/checklist)
- Host a baby bootie making party. It is a great chance to talk about the issue, how it has affected you, and share some of the solutions to the problem. (Click here for info on the problem and solutions)
- Having a birthday? Ask your friends to make a pair in your honor for every year. Throw them a party to do so.
Communication
Please share this information far and wide, and do it often, everywhere you go, in person and online.
- Print the flyer or the business card-sized handouts on this page and distribute them at your
- sew/quilt/knit/crochet/felt/fiber group and guild,
- favorite quilt, yarn or fiber or fabric store
- church group
- family and friends
- your local quilt/fiber art show
- SHARE this graphic online. Right click on it, save it to your computer and upload it to your Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter pages.
To get learn more or get involved, click on TheMourningProject.com tab above. - Twitter–use #TheMourningProject.com
- Facebook-your page and your quilt/yarn/fabric shop and guild pages.
- Snapchat
- Ravelry
- on your own website or blog
- Follow TheMourningProject.com on Facebook, and Mary Vaneecke on Pinterest, and Twitter.
- Blog about TheMourningProject.com.
- Invite me to write a guest blog or join your podcast
- Invite me to talk to your group.
- Get your TheMourningProject.com swag at Zazzle.
Other Donations
- Are you tech-savvy? Could you assist with updating the WordPress website? This can be done from anywhere in the world, and in your jammies! Contact mary@maryvaneecke.com if you can help.
- Do you know a location where we can exhibit TheMourningProject.com? Contact me at mary@maryvaneecke.com.
- Can you help with installing TheMourningProject.com exhibition at a location near you? Contact me at mary@maryvaneecke.com.
- Make a financial donation to TheMourningProject.com.The Mourning Project is now a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions for the charitable purposes of The Mourning Project must be made payable to “Fractured Atlas” only and are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law. Cash donations are not deductible. To make an online donation, click here. Can you help with storage for TheMourningProject.com in Tucson, Arizona? Contact me at mary@maryvaneecke.com.
- Can you help with transporting TheMourningProject.com to exhibition venues? Contact me at mary@maryvaneecke.com.
Advocacy
- Invite your elected representatives and the press to a baby bootie making party. Click here for sample invites/press releases (TBA).
- Invite your elected officials and the local press to view an installation or event. Click here for a list. Discuss how they can enact laws to address infant mortality.
- Write and call your local, state, and national representatives about the problem and ask them to support proven solutions to infant mortality. Click here for sample letters.
Leadership
- Volunteer to be an Emissary for the project
- Help organize an exhibition in your area–contact me at mary@maryvaneecke.com
- Organize advocacy efforts in your state or join the March of Dimes advocacy campaign