Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — This year's Leadership North Iowa class is raising money to help parents who have lost a child to miscarriage with the grieving process.
The goal is to build Lullaby Lane at Elmwood Cemetery in Mason City, a prayer pathway leading through Lullaby Land, the area of the cemetery where children are buried, the Globe Gazette (http://bit.ly/1VAE0u6 ) reports.
Parents who lost children to miscarriage under 20 weeks will have the option of having their child's name and date of loss engraved on a paver to be installed in the pathway.
"It will allow them to have a place to come and remember their loss," said Dr. Jonna Quinn of the Mercy Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic in Mason City.
Quinn is a member of the 2016 Leadership North Iowa class as well as the Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa Fetal and Infant Loss Bereavement Committee.
The leadership class, which is part of the Mason City Chamber of Commerce, provides leadership training for up-and-coming business people in North Iowa.
Each year's class completes a community impact project.
When members of this year's class were brainstorming ideas for a project, Quinn suggested Lullaby Lane.
Fetal loss and miscarriage is a tragedy that affects many people, according to Quinn.
Once a year cremains of children lost to miscarriage are buried in land owned by Mercy in Lullaby Land, with a single group marker with the year and a phrase such as "Our Littlest Angels" or "Our Smallest Miracles."
However, these small markers don't have individual names on them.
Quinn said anyone who lost a child to miscarriage under 20 weeks will be allowed to have a paver engraved on Lullaby Lane, whether the child's cremains are buried in Lullaby Land or not.
Lullaby Lane will lead up to the headstone engraved with an angel and the words "We Remember" located in the middle of Lullaby Land.
Allyson Krull, marketing and leadership development director at the Mason City Chamber of Commerce, said the project was just announced but the organization has already received three calls from parents who lost a child to miscarriage and would like a paver engraved for the child.
She said this is "great and sad all at the same time."
Organizers hope to have the money raised and Lullaby Lane built by October, which is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. A dedication ceremony will be held at that time.
"I think it's great," said Traci Koehn, a member of this year's LNI class.
She said the project will be "very impactful for the community."
___
Information from: Globe Gazette, http://www.globegazette.com/
An AP Member Exchange shared by the Globe Gazette.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
