Haley’s Angels providing comfort to grieving parents

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – A Versailles woman has a special sewing organization with a singular purpose, helping parents heal after losing a baby.

“It means everything to me and to know I’m doing it in her memory,” Marcum said.

The founder of Haley’s Angels, Tammy Marcum, created the organization to give even just a little comfort to parents who are facing grief after a tragic loss, something Marcum is familiar with.

“Fifteen years ago I was pregnant with a daughter, who we named Haley and at 22 weeks of my pregnancy, I had noticed there was no movement. We went and found out that she had passed away,” Marcum said.

The organization started with cardboard boxes but 15 years later and now the wooden boxes are painted, each one with a special design, and inside are mementos and funeral clothing for their baby.

“I felt lost when this happened to me and I left the hospital and I didn’t really have anything and I would have loved to have had one of the boxes that I can give to these bereaved parents. It would have meant a lot to me, so I know it means a lot to them,” Marcum said.

The organization donates to the three major Lexington hospitals and Marcum wants to add more hospitals into the mix each year.

Jan Cornett is a nurse at the Women’s Hospital at Saint Joseph East, she says the families are always so touched when they receive the box.

“Each family, it’s just amazing to watch them. It’s very emotional and we try to add footprints, different things to their boxes but the box makes the difference in the world to them because they have something to actually say, ‘this is mine, this is my babies.’,” Cornett said.

She says Tammy gives the parents two funeral outfits, one for the baby to be buried in and the other for the family to keep close to them.

Marcum and her friend Sandra sew all of the clothing themselves but as the organization grows the need for extra help with sewing grows with it.