Asking Favors (or Favours if You're Canadian)

Interrupting regular scheduled programming to tell you guys about something that's uber-important.


As you guys know, I volunteer at my local hospital as a parent support worker. And it's fulfilling and lovely and was the best possible way for me to deal with my issues surrounding my super traumatic pregnancy last time around. I do a lot of work in the antepartum ward, which is where I spent six weeks of my last pregnancy before giving birth to a preemie and hanging out in the NICU for four weeks. Mostly I just pop by to chat and bring treats to the mamas who are staying on long-term bedrest.

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to spend some time with a beautiful bedrest mom -- Katrina. We chatted for a while about mom stuff and I was surprised to hear that she was pregnant with her sixth baby -- she looked so young! I gave her some deets about NICU life, as her son would most likely spend time there and I promised to come visit her the week after.

Tragically, I received a message on Saturday that this gorgeous mom had passed away from serious complications in childbirth. Her son was fine -- he's a tough little fighter -- but her heart had simply stopped. When I was at the hospital this past Tuesday I learned a little more of the circumstances and felt sick and helpless, especially when thinking of this mom's family. That's the worst part about working at the hospital -- sometimes really sad things happen and you feel like you can't really do anything to help.

Which is why I was so happy when I was contacted through my blog by a group putting together a fundraiser for Katrina's family. They actually didn't know I had previously met Katrina, but asked if I would be willing to donate something to the fundraiser as a local blogger. We came up with the idea of a "Jae's Favorite Things" basket to be auctioned off during a silent auction at the fundraiser. I'm excited to get involved and so glad that this group thought of me.

Now, here's where I'm going to ask for a favor... or favour. Local girls, the fundraiser is at Viking Crossfit in Orem next Saturday. Here are the details:

If you can make it, that would be superb. I've seen some of the auction items  and door prizes and it looks like a lot of fun and I'm planning on stopping by as well. If you're not local and still want to help, there's an account set up at Wells Fargo under "Team Katrina" and also an indiegogo campaign, which you can access here.You can also score more info about the fundraiser and ways to help on the Team Katrina Facebook page.

Money definitely doesn't heal broken hearts, but I hope that through financial support, Katrina's sweet family will be able to take the time they need to grieve the loss of their mother and wife. Medical costs for a NICU baby can also be baffling. I also want them to know that even people like me -- who only knew Katrina for a short while -- were still touched by her life.

I know that usually my blog is light and peppered (and by peppered I mean doused) with sarcasm, but I wanted to take a time out to remember Katrina. Now, I'm off to shop for my basket - I'm thinking shoe gift cards and lots of beauty products and fun accessories. Pop by next Saturday and help support Katrina's fam, pretty please?

Thanks for putting up with the change in posting -- I'll be back to normal next week. You guys are peaches and the best readers a mom/fashion/llama blogger could have.