Small items, big impact: Here’s how tiny hats, blankets comfort those who grieve
Having a stillbirth or a baby who lives for only moments or hours is heartbreaking for families, but Bundles for Babies is trying to help ease some of the pain. The non-profit collects tiny hats and blankets for the babies.
“It’s comforting to have something to hold onto, to sleep with at night that their babies touched and held and to have that with them while they’re grieving the loss,” said Bundles for Babies founder Mallorie Isom.
Isom, an Olathe native, knows firsthand what it’s like to be one of these parents. She gave birth to twins, Simon and Morris, 20 weeks into her 2017 pregnancy. All the baby items she had at home were for full-term babies.
“I remember the nurse coming in with a little knit blanket and some crocheted hats, and she asked me what color I wanted. She was able to put the babies in a blanket and hats that fit them perfectly,” Isom said.
“When I ended up going home from the hospital a few days later without my babies, and instead I had a memory box of them, the only thing I had that was actually theirs was their hats and blankets. That was a huge comfort to me.”
To keep her hands and mind busy in those weeks and months after losing her sons, she turned to the basic crochet skills she’d learned from her grandma.
“It ended up being very healing for me to make these items,” Isom said.
Her mom spread the word to some friends about what Isom was doing, and people wanted to help. They also encouraged her to share what she was doing on social media. Now, Bundles for Babies supplies hats and blankets to 261 hospitals covering all 50 states, in addition to a few other places.
Volunteers in 40 states send in knitted, crocheted or sewn hats and blankets for Bundles to distribute. Isom has collection points here in Olathe as well as in Wyoming and Las Vegas. Many of the volunteers are retired nurses.
Lenexa resident Retha Hance heard about it through her church and has been making hats and blankets for years. Her friends and family all know that for any occasion, she’d love to get yarn to make more items for Bundles.
She crochets, because, “I think the crocheted blankets are cuter,” she said.
The mission of what Bundles does is special for Hance, who had her own experience with a stillbirth but didn’t have the tiny hats and blankets available. Being able to do that for someone else means a lot to her.
“It would be comforting to me to know someone thought about me and made me a blanket for my baby,” Hance said.
Three friends have joined her in making things for Bundles. The items are even tinier than you might imagine. A finished hat measures 2.5 by 2.5 inches, and blankets are 12-inch squares. Isom has some basic patterns on her website but encourages people to be creative with their designs, as long as they are the right size.
The growth has been almost exponential, starting with 2,000 items donated the first year, growing to 6,000 by 2021 and to nearly 15,000 this year. Altogether, they’ve sent out 41,384 items since Bundles got started.
Isom was living in Florida when she started and gave to her local hospital but then went straight to supplying Kansas City-area hospitals.
She still takes suggestions of hospitals that may need the hats and blankets, though she already sends to most of the largest hospitals in the country. Many of the smaller hospitals don’t have the resources to even handle these cases and will refer women to larger hospitals with better specialized equipment.
“I contact hospitals before sending them, because I want to make sure there’s a need. Unfortunately, there is almost always a need,” Isom said.
She checks in with each hospital at least once a year to make sure they have enough. For Isom, it’s always worth the effort.
“Simon and Morris were my first kids, and I see this as an opportunity for me to mother them. Even though they’re not here, this is how I physically show my love for them. I’m grateful to do it,” she said.
For more information on Bundles for Babies, visit makebundlesforbabies.org.
