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Hi I'm Indianmaiden
Welcome to the NorthWest Pennsylvania Chapter of Afghans for Angels.
"Afghans for Angels" is an organization made up completely of volunteers who make and distribute baby blankets to local hospitals to give to parents who have suffered the loss of their infant through miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant death.
Our "Afghans for Angels" are placed lovingly around these infant angels when they are held by their families for the brief time in which bittersweet hellos and sad good-byes are said. The parents are then allowed to keep these afghans as a token of remembrance of their baby. Just having something soft to hold is often comforting.
(this is from our originator's page, Afghans for Angels-IA. How could I ever put it better?)
The History of this Chapter
April 26 1999 changed my life, that is the day I lost my son, Timothy Aaron. I was only a few months pregnant, just starting my second trimester, but I had dreams for that tiny life growing inside my belly, being my third child, I had even begun to show a little. I was so excited to have another baby, he was being named for one of my best friends husband, who was killed in a tragic accident in Feb, 99, and his middle name was to be my birth father's last name, whom I met for the first time in November of 98.
I was crushed when our ultrasound showed no heartbeat, no movement, no signs of life at all. The next day I delivered him, we still don't know what caused his death.
When you lose a child, you lose a part of yourself, a part that never comes back.
Then, online, I happened to meet Ruth, she had lost a baby also, and she knew how I felt, she also had used her pain to do something constructive, she started Afghans for Angels. I was very interested in starting a chapter here when I read about it, but then something else happened, she sent me two blankets, a tiny little crocheted blanket that was just Timmy's size, and a beautiful, soft quilt, I was playing with my children when John, my husband, came in from the post office, he handed me the box, I opened it, and I couldn't help myself, I sat there holding them both crying, even tho they had never touched him, they were his, given to him by people who never knew him, or me. From that day, it was no longer something I was interested in, it was something I knew in my heart was right. And so begins the journey of the chapter. An act of kindness inspired me to use my crafts to help others.
I carry the tiny crocheted square in my briefcase now, so that it is with me at all times. I still have rough days, I still shed tears on it, I'm sure I always will. It is such a comfort. The beautiful, soft, yellow quilt makes it's rounds, sometimes I take it with me when I talk to people about Afghans for Angels, sometimes it is in my bedroom, it had been in the cradle where my sweet baby would have slept, but my strength has returned, and I have put the cradle back into storage.
Now I gather handmade blankets, ranging in size from about 1 ft square (for really tiny babies) to about 2.5 ft square or bigger,. These items are then provided to area hospitals, the blankets are wrapped around these angel babies, so that thier family can say one bittersweet hello, and goodbye.
How Can I Help?
THESE MEETINGS TEMPORARILY CANCELED, CONTACT ME IF YOU WOULD BE INTERESTED IN ATTENDING MEETINGS!!!
If you live in our area, we would love to see you at our monthly workshop meetings. We meet on the last Friday of every month, at the Venango County Community Services building in Oil City, PA, from 1:PM-4PM or later. Here we can socialize, swap patterns, and make each other smile. We also have materials that have been donated at these meetings, this may be used by our volunteers who have time, but not money, to help us.
Or if you would like to send a donation from another area, we can be reached at
Afghans for Angels-NWPA
PO Box 71
Cooperstown, PA 16317
Or email me at: afghansforangelspa@hotmail.com
We use crocheted, knitted, and quilted blankets.
Also, please visit theHomeMade Dreams Care Wear Page. This is the same group of loving volunteers, but under this name we make burial layettes for the angel babes, along with items for preemies, and many other items.
Donation Page What to send, where to send it, and some links and patterns.
The Lighthouse Resourses for parents after loss
Virtual Cemetery for the Unborn A place to remember the children we lost before they ever took a breath of their own
Links to other charities, patterns, and pages of interest..
Awards I've won
Visit my Tim's memorial
 Since 2/25/2000
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