Collaborate For A Cause

Members of Australia’s handmade community will be hoping to raise more than $50,000 for a variety of charities including Yasminah's Gift Of Hope through Collaborate for a Cause – a massive online charity auction being held late July.

The event – which will take place via Facebook from July 26-28 – involves more than 340 small handmade businesses and hobby enterprises.

We are honoured and thrilled to have over 25 handmade businesses participating in over 15 collaborations. Together, they are hoping their collaborations raise over $2500 for Yasminah's Gift Of Hope.

The inaugural event in 2011 – which included 200+ businesses – raised $18,000.  Last year this was doubled to a massive $40,000 shared amongst 105 charities. This year, organiser Jen Kennedy from Ainslee Fox Handmade believes the donation tally could reach $50,000.

“We’ve had such an overwhelming response from the creative community on Facebook. We’ve got collaborations of two, three, four and even more businesses who have all worked together to create some amazing, beautiful handmade items. "

“Australia is fortunate to have a thriving community of talented craftspeople – many are stay-at-home mums – and this event is being held in the name of fun, friendship and giving.”

Members of the public will be able to bid on the auction via the Collaborate for a Cause Facebook page simply by commenting under a photograph of their favourite item. Payments will be taken by direct bank deposit or PayPal.

Full details about the auction and photographs/descriptions of the items being auctioned are available at www.facebook.com/collaborate4acause

HALEY BRACKEN BECOMES AMBASSADOR FOR YASMINAH’S GIFT OF HOPE

Yasminah’s Gift of Hope will celebrate its second birthday as a registered charity today 26th May. The charity was founded to support families who experience the miscarriage, premature birth, neonatal loss, stillbirth or infant loss of their child or diagnosis of a congenital abnormality during pregnancy. One in four pregnancies ends in loss and premature birth is the leading cause of new-born deaths. In the two years since it was founded the charity has provided over 6000 Gifts Of Hope to families and many more with support.

We are very excited that Haley Bracken has accepted the role of Ambassador for Yasminah’s Gift of Hope. Haley has experienced premature birth and knows the struggle that parents go through at that time. With her help and her passion for the cause, we can reach many more families who would otherwise have to suffer through this difficult time with little or no support.

As the mother of Yasminah who was stillborn and of twins who were born prematurely, my experiences have made me realise how important it is to have something by which to remember each child and their special birth journey. The tragedy is that some families have nothing: no photos, no record, nothing to hold.

Yasminah's Gift of Hope Journals allows families to keep ultrasound images, photos, cot cards, arm bands, and foot and hand prints as a cherished keepsake of a precious life. The journals are donated to hospitals, neonatal intensive care wards and to families struggling with loss or the worry of premature births.

 

As Ambassador, Haley Bracken will help promote awareness of the high rate of premature and stillbirths in this country and the ongoing support and understanding available from Yasminah's Gift of Hope. 44,000 babies are admitted to neonatal and special care units across Australia each year. That is an incredible amount of families we need to reach. We will hold our first Fundraising Ball on August 11th with Haley Bracken as MC and Ambassador, to raise funds and help us achieve our goals.

Yasminah’s Gift of Hope has achieved a lot in two short years and with Haley Bracken as Ambassador, we intend to achieve a lot more.

 

Anniversaries remind us to count our blessings. I would like to personally thank all of our amazing, dedicated and passionate volunteers who pour their hearts and souls into providing Gifts Of Hope to families and continueing Yasminah's memory. Thank you seems so small compared to all you've done, but know that your kindness and support doesn't go unnoticed. It is appreciated by families who receive a Gift Of Hope and support when needed most.
 

Harrisons Little Wings

Melanie is a mother of 4 beautiful boys, one who is an Angel. Her son Harrison Alexandar McKenzie was born on the 14th of September 2010 and passed away on the 15th of September 2010. In Harrisons memory she started Harrisons Little Wings.

Harrison lived for only a short 28 hours due to an incurable condition called Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia. His 28 hours of life was 28 hours of pure fight and courage from him. Melanie watched her baby boy fight so hard, struggle to live, and then watched as he lost that battle.

Instead of taking Harrison home from the hospital, she took a box of memories that the Mater Mothers Hospital in Queensland had kindly made up. This contained Harrisons monitor wiring, foot prints, sunnies and ear muffs, amongst other treasured items.


As an avid scrapbooker, Melanie found scrapbooking Harrisons photos a form of therapy, and a wonderful way to preserve their very special photos and memories of their time together. Harrisons Little Wings is a registered non profit charity that create special photo frames and 6 x 6 scrapbook albums for families that suffer the loss of their baby through perinatal death. They currently service the Mater Mothers Brisbane, Logan, Redcliffe and Caboolture Hospitals in Queensland and hope to service all hospitals across Australia in the future.



Harrisons 'Gift Of Hope Journal'

 I first met Mel online around April last year. We have formed a wonderful friendship, even though we have never met in person. We talk on the phone a lot, we have cried together and laughed too. Mel is an amazing woman and I'm very lucky to call her a friend. Mel has similar values and beliefs  to me. We know that together we are going to make a difference to newly bereaved families journey and help them capture their precious memories. Melanie is strongly advocating to change and educate the support midwives provide following the loss of a child in Queensland Hospitals. I admire her courage and strength, through what has been a very difficult time for her family.

On Yasminah's second birthday, Mel made the most gorgeous scrapbook for me to put Yasminah's photos and keepsakes into. It is something I treasure. I placed all her special photos and memento's into the album from the original purple book the hospital placed Yasminah's things into.

I will share the layouts inside Yasminah's Scrapbook another time. Later this month Yasminah would of turned 3 and to mark her birthday I'm giving back where I can and sharing other organisations that have helped me, in her memory. I have been fortunate enough to have a little bit of spare time to create a few layouts for Harrisons Little Wings. Mel doesn't know about these yet and I have a few more that I am working on. I have to say that it is quite a challenge to create 6 x 6 layouts without having a photo to work around, also doing a similar style. Decorating a journal is challenging but I take my hat off to Mel and her volunteers for the beauty in each of their pages.

 

If you can scrap and would like to help Mel with Harrisons Little Wings contact her via email  

Guest Post ~ Children Having Infant Limb Deficiency ~ CHILD ~ Katherine Moffett

This is my very first guest blog, of what I hope will be many more. My dear friend Katherine Moffett. I will always remember when we first found each other online, I was about 25 weeks pregnant with Yasminah. It was so wonderful to find someone who also had a child with a congenital limb difference. It gave me hope that everything would be OK and it didn't matter that Yasminah had a limb difference, she would still be able to do amazing things and would always have the support and strength of her family and friends. I still remember when I had to tell Kath she had passed away :( It was heartbreaking as she had offered to pass along some of Sienna's clothes. I knew even before I had Yasminah that I wanted to help other families in some way. Katherine was the person that helped me get all the paperwork and charity started as she had only recently done it for CHILD. Thank you Kath for being the most amazing, supportive friend a girl could ever hope for. I will continue to help with CHILD wherever I can as it will always have a place close to my heart and all the amazing friendships with the many different CHILD families I have made along the way. Don't forget that you are amazing and the person who inspired me to start something in Yasminah's memory, for that I will always be grateful ♥ Bec x x


This was Katherine's post on our Facebook page last week

Katherine

I was sitting here thinking about the past three and a half years for me. All the amazing people who have touched my life thus far. Rebecca and I met after she found out about Yasminah's differences as I run Children Having Infant Limb Deficiency - CHILD. We spoke here and there, I would try and shed light on the situation because I don't like parents thinking their alone when something like this i...s diagnosed. I remember when I found out about Yasminahs passing. I was sitting in my loungeroom in Prestons, Sydney. And I read a message Rebecca had sent me. I started to cry. She was the first little baby Id had the honour of being involved with who had lost her life. So when time went on and Rebecca said she wanted to start Yasminahs Gift of Hope, I was more than happy to help with whatever I could and I'm sure you remember Rebecca, the paperwork was a nightmere LOL....But Id just like to express my absolute love and admiration for one of my closest friends Rebecca Aziz. I have the utmost respect for her and all the work she puts in. Literally! Blood sweat and tears!! She is why I still do what I do, she is my inspiration. When my ex husband left me because we had a child born with disabilities it was my friends who picked me up and who encouraged me. In the last week alone, Rebecca has helped me so much, twitter, the blog, I just cant express how important you are to all of us Bec and I pray that a big tycoon with millions of dollars comes up and says "Here love, $1,000,000 to make a difference"! Love you xxx

Pregnancy can best be described as riding a very intense rollercoaster of emotions. Some days your up, others your way down. Other times you feel like your going around in circles and the weeks and months will never end.

But once labour is over, or the caesarean section is complete and your holding your newborn for the very first time, touching her soft skin, adoring her face, it all seems worth it. Picturesque isn’t it? Sounds perfect. Well the fact of the matter is, it’s not always like this.

This is her story, it is one of extreme lows, mounting highs and all the in-between.

Siennas pregnancy seemed normal. Besides some crazy dreams about her being born with dwarfism, a reoccurring dream I had at least five times and some bouts of anxiety my pregnancy was what I would call perfect.

Ultrasounds out of the way, we were told the baby was healthy, ten fingers, ten toes, I was content and anxious to meet my little bundle. When she was born though she was whisked away to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Hospital. I saw her for one minute after she was born and she was tightly wrapped, so tight in fact I could not unwrap her blankets and any attempts to do so were squashed.

Three hours after her birth, the news was broken to me that my perfect little girl, with ten fingers, ten toes and a button nose, wasn’t in fact what I'd expected. I was confronted with a very little baby, her arms were significantly different lengths, her shoulder on the right was smaller than the left, her right elbow was fused and could not be bend and the biggest shock of all, she had no thumbs. Eight little fingers is all she had. She had major upper limb issues, a heart condition and scoliosis of the hips.
The weeks and months that followed were tough, trying to adjust to life with a child with such different needs to what I would have called back then a normal baby.

My marriage broke down. The stress was all too much and I found myself attending the hospital appointments alone, dragging a three year old with one hand while trying to push a pram with the other.

Over the past three and a half years, I’ve tried to make Siennas life as normal as possible. She never misses out. She is always involved. Never left behind is my family motto. We have all pitched in to make sure my children’s lives are as unaffected by all of this as possible.

But what do you do when a child, who is around seven years old, decides to point out that he thinks your pride and joy, your little princess, is a “freak” and is “scary”. How would you deal with this? It’s so easy to dish out advice to other parents about how to handle things like this but when it actually happens to you, it hits you like a ton of bricks.

My answer, educate the community. Teach your child that staring at someone who has a disability, or any difference is not polite. Calling someone a freak, scary, ugly, fat, four eyes, none of it is right. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but I’m telling you words do hurt. How can I protect my daughter from the big bad world when all I want to do is hide her away and protect her? I’m asking parents all over the world, to do what’s right and educate your children. Teach them what is right from wrong. My daughter didn’t ask for this. She didn’t ask to be born like this. Lately she has been asking me why she can't have ten fingers like mummy. And also why she has to keep going back to the hospital.

I am now the sole parent to three amazing children. All of whom adore and love each other unconditionally. They are all protective and respectful of each other.
Please, help me make the world an easier place for children like my daughter to feel safe and not judged because of their physical appearance. Bullying is wrong! Teasing is wrong! Poking, prodding and pushing are wrong whether the person is disabled or not!

I'm doing my best to educate the world. I started a charity in 2009 called CHILD. Children Having Infant Limb Deficiency. To date I have made contact with over 500 families from all over the world whose child has either been born with a limb difference or has an acquired limb difference (amputee). Our children are all amazing human beings. And I am trying to help them get the confidence they need to face the world loud and proud!


I’m normally a very calm and placid woman but I need to stand up and fight for the rights of my daughter now and those of other children with any type of disability. Bullying is wrong; educate yourselves and your loved ones. Bullying is ignorance and I for one will not tolerate it anymore.

Katherine Moffett

To learn more about CHILD and support Katherine's work please visit www.childorg.net.au and follow them on Facebook