Across Sanford Health, philanthropy helps advance leading-edge research, supports state-of-the-art technology and fuels enhancements in care and treatment. It also supports meaningful programs that make a difference during some of life’s most challenging and heartbreaking moments.
Programs like PETAL (Parents Embracing Time After Loss), an initiative developed in 2006 by Sanford Health caregivers in Bemidji to help parents who are experiencing the loss of a baby.
Supported entirely through philanthropy, the PETAL program provides parents with meaningful mementos that honor and celebrate the life of their child, such as molds of their baby’s footprints and handprints, blankets their baby has been wrapped in, locks of hair, educational materials and more.
“It’s a way to help parents heal and remember,” said Amy Martin, a registered nurse who works in labor and delivery at the Sanford Medical Center in Bemidji.
“I’ve worked in labor and delivery for 23 years and during that time I’ve witnessed so much joy and, sadly, so much loss,” Martin said. “Hearing the cries and screams of someone who has lost a child … you can’t forget that sound. It’s pure agony. There’s no way to describe that feeling. These parents are left with a hole in their hearts and there’s no way to fix that. A piece of themselves is gone.”
By finding ways to honor and celebrate the life of their baby, the PETAL program aims to ease the pain.
“Time and time again, we hear from parents, families and people around our community that the PETAL program helps to make a heartbreaking situation better,” Martin said.
The fact that the PETAL program is supported through the kindness and generosity of others makes the program even more meaningful, she said.
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“Philanthropy is how we can do anything with the PETAL program. Without it, we wouldn’t have the means to do these things for our families who have lost the most important thing in their life.”
Labor & Delivery RN, Sanford Medical Center in Bemidji
“Those who support this program do so from their hearts, and their gifts mean so much. It makes me cry. Without the help of everyone who donates to this program, we couldn’t do the work we do.”
Above (within the header image): Ceegee Muller (left) and Leah Plumlee were both helped by the PETAL program. Leah also previously served as a volunteer for the program.
Get Involved
You can support parents who have experienced loss during the annual Walk to Remember, set for Saturday, Oct. 5, at the Sanford Bemidji Medical Center.
Held in recognition of National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, the event features an outdoor walk around the medical center campus, a tree planting ceremony, smudging ceremony, silent auction and time to reflect and remember babies lost in early pregnancy, stillbirth, newborn death, and SIDS.
For more information or to contact a PETAL team member call (218) 333-6129 or email BemidjiRSVP@SanfordHealth.org.
Give for Healing
100% of your gift through the Sanford Health Foundation will make a difference for patients and families right here in our community.