WHAT IS THE WALK FOR PARKER?
The Walk for Parker is an annual family charity 3k walk / 5k run. This event is in loving memory of our sweet son Parker Alexander Meyer started in 2015. Parker passed away on November 30, 2014 at five and a half days old due to a massive in-utero brain injury resulting from cord compression. Parker was a mono-mono twin. Mono-Mono is short for Monoamniotic-Monochorionic, defined as a set of identical twins who share the same anomoic sac, with no dividing membranes. This type of twin pregnancy is very rare, occuring 1 in 35,000 to 1 in 60,000 pregnancies, corresponding to about 1% of all twin pregnancies. With those staticistics, the doctors gave us a 50% chance of losing one or both of our boys. Parker unfortunately lost his life, and this event will help raise money in Parker’s name for the non-profit charity Molly Bears. In addition, the money raised will also go towards creation of a special one-of-a-kind memory box to be donated in Parker’s name to the ISCU at Evanston Hospital for parents to find some comfort when losing a child. And lastly, October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, which is dedicated to remembering and honoring the angel babies that have been lost. Furthermore, October 15th is the day of remembrance called the International Wave of Light Celebration. This year marks the first and inaugural charity event to raise money in Parker’s name and to keep his name alive. We are so excited to be able to do this for our beautiful son.
Money we've raised to date since 2015: $52,798.50
Total number of bears we've been able to make: 155
Total number of Parker Memory Bags we've been able to make: 75
Total number of bears we've been able to make: 155
Total number of Parker Memory Bags we've been able to make: 75
WHAT CHARITIES ARE WE RAISING MONEY FOR?
In April of 2008, Rachel's Gift, Inc. was created to collaborate with hospitals to provide specialized bereavement care for parents who lose a child to miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant death.
Since then they have served thousands of families across the country. There program have expanded to include Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support Groups, Follow-Up Care, and Keepsake Boxes available at partnering hospitals. Rachel's Gift was created when A precious baby girl named Rachel was seven weeks away from her entry into this world when her family was in a tragic car wreck. Mother and child were flown to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta; however, a couple of hours later, Rachel lost her life. The next day, she was stillborn. From the lonely depths of grief the family went through in the next hours, days, and weeks, Rachel’s Gift was born. 
Hand to Hold helps families before, during, and after a NICU stay and infant loss by providing powerful resources for the whole family, and most importantly, one-on-one mentoring from someone who has been there.
There resources include in-hospital programs, articles and blogs, podcasts, social networks, and trained peer mentors. All were designed with the emotional, physical, and social needs of the whole NICU family – including siblings and grandparents. Our caring social work team uses their personal and professional experiences to ensure all Hand to Hold programs and services work for our NICU families, at every step in the journey. 
The Little Giraffe Foundation was started on March 28, 2011 in memory of their daughter, Cheyenne who passed away at birth. This foundation was created to share her life with the world and is dedicated to funding neonatal research and supporting patients and parents of the NICU.
In addition, they donate to parents small things they can use like a book to read to their baby, a camera to take pictures, or a holiday gift so they know they are not forgotten. 
A Butterfly’s Journey has a mission to help individuals and families struggling with grief after the loss of a child, or other traumatic loss, to find hope and a new normal. They do that through grief recovery classes, through providing a comprehensive online Resource Center, and through their photo shoots.
Portrait of Loss - Is a photo shoot they provide that allows grievers to express themselves simply, visually and emotionally to spark discussion.
Open to Hope ® is a non-profit with the mission of helping people find hope after loss through reading, listening and share your stories of hope and compassion through videos.
*Giving a voice through grief and recovery* Parker's Memory BagsWe are also donating proceeds towards the creation of a one-of-a-kind memory bag in honor of Parker to the ISCU at Evanston Hospital in Evanston, IL. These bags will include a few comforting items for parents that have lost a child.
Check out our previous WFP Videos!
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How Molly Bears helped our family to heal:During our grieving period, our family has found much comfort in having our very own Parker Molly Bear. Harrison has taken to it so well, it's as if Parker is actually with him. The first time we saw Harrison with the Molly Bear, It brought tears to our eyes to see our son so happy. After Parker passed away, Harrison had needed a lot of extra love and snuggles, especially when he slept, he always needed to hold a stuffed animal or lovey. Watching Harrison play with the Parker Molly Bear made us feel that he thinks he's actually playing with his brother, and in those moments, it gives us joy to see our "twins" together, happy as it should have been. It also gives us our twin moments that we will forever miss. Even Finley, our oldest son, likes to sit and snuggle with it and Kristyne finds comfort when sleeping with it. We feel like we're actually holding Parker and would give anything to have that feeling be real. So from the bottom of our hearts, we are so grateful for Molly Bears and everything that they do for so many families like ours. The comfort that is felt when holding this beautiful bear is more than we could ever ask for. Please help us raise money for such an amazing charity, so we can donate more bears to families that have lost their children.
...Our boys together; Harrison (10.5) with Parker (Molly Bear), Finley (12), & Keegan (8).
Harrison loves his Parker Molly Bear
Harrison & his Parker Molly Bear
Harrison & Parker Molly Bear
I was so happy to be able to take my official twin
picture of them in their twin shirts :).
Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness MonthOver the years, October has become dedicated throughout the world to remembering and honoring the angel babies that have been lost. It has also become a time to raise awareness regarding this topic and to discuss, educate, and provide resources and support for parents and family members who are engaged in the family building process and/or have lost a child.
Wave of LightOctober 15th is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day. On this day, the world is invited to light a candle at 7pm in all time zones. If everyone can keep their candle lit for an hour, there will be a continuous wave of light over the entire world. And that is just amazing! So lets all join together and keep the light burning on October 15th for our sweet angels that have left this world way too early.
Our candle lighting for Parker for the Wave of Lights celebration.
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