Hold My Heart Foundation

To all of the moms - we know the pain of loss.

I remember sitting in church on Mother’s Day, feeling like I didn’t fit in because we didn’t have a baby here with us. I was dealing with not only the loss of Alyssa but also a miscarriage of twins.

I didn’t know about this day and found it on a couple of pages I follow. If you know someone who has lost a child, reach out to them. Many people ask me for advice on what to say and my response is always to ask how she is doing and to listen. One of the hardest things for a mom dealing with loss is feeling like she can’t talk about it. Give her an opportunity to. ❤️

Being able to help families in need is a true blessing. Recently, our foundation was able to offer support to the Knapp family, whose child was in the NICU. By providing them with gift cards for gas, we were able to help them through an unexpected and challenging time. We are deeply grateful to everyone who supports our cause, as it enables us to continue offering assistance to families in need.

Hello everyone!

We are still providing gift cards for gas and food. Trying to be more active on social media to share what we are doing!

We are looking to do a virtual race in August! Stay tuned for more info.

Today is World Down Syndrome Day! How can you celebrate? Here are some ideas!

All donations received today will be donated to DSAGL.

https://www.paypal.com/donate?token=Tf8vsrqVFDlcrD1-4BtGHOB2Ki-x6o7piM-JVX2Y7zmAXe3spaubo1hVq050PW_lXk_7QanlUKp-1MEP

World Down Syndrome Day is approaching. We will do a fundraiser for the Down Syndrome Association of Greater St. Louis.

Why this organization?

When we found out that Alyssa had Down Syndrome, we were linked up with them. They provided resources and encouragement for two parents facing the unknown. When Alyssa was born at 29 weeks, they reached out letting us know they were praying for her. When she passed, they reached out again.

Learning a child will have a lifelong struggle is hard for any parent. It wasn’t just my concerns for her health and life, but how others would treat her because she was different.

World Down Syndrome Day works to celebrate individuals who are capable of amazing achievements as well as educate and advocate.

Here’s how you can help:
1. We will do a 3.21 mile virtual event on 3/21 similar to our annual race. Sign ups will be available starting next weekend for $25. All race sign ups will be donated to DSAGSL. We have a lot of race swag left, so we will give some for you to keep or share.

2. Learn about and advocate for a local Down Syndrome organization.

3. Share our foundation page and our event. I will create flyers soon.

Thank you to all who support our foundation. It isn’t easy doing everything virtually and having to move every few years and find hospitals willing for a small organization to provide donations, especially in a post-Covid world.

Happy New Year!

If you are looking for a way to support a local NICU, here is what we recommend.

First, reach out to their social worker. Each NICU is different, and the needs of their families might be different.

For example, the NICU we primarily help, Missouri Women’s and Children’s Hospital, frequently need gas cards. When Alyssa was born in 2009, our drive to this hospital took 2 hours. With gas prices, most of the funds we raise go to purchase gas cards to help families who drive back and forth to see their children.

However, some NICUs will ask for baby items, diapers, toys, books, or food to stock a snack area. Hold My Heart Foundation has donated all of these items to various hospitals; it depends on the needs.

If you need some ideas, feel free to comment or message us at [email protected]. If you would like to make a donation to help support families, please visit https://holdmyheartfoundation.com. We are a 501(c)3 organization, which means your donations are tax deductible.

Hold My Heart Foundation Our board is made up of dedicated volunteers who have a heart for serving and helping others. We appreciate their passion, support, and guidance.

Donations help purchase items families need. This includes preemie clothes.

Thank you to the amazing Dasi for not only coordinating purchases but also helping fund raise.

Prayer warriors, we are asking for prayer for a family. Izzy is currently in the hospital overcoming bacterial meningitis.

For more information or to make a donation, please visit https://gofund.me/c0ca4dea.

Price goes up to $35 next week! Sign up today!

We also have amazing sponsors who are providing prizes for our registrants to win. Every paid registrant will have a chance to win gift cards or other prizes.

Stay tuned for more information!

One week left for early registration! Sign up today to get $10 off.

https://forms.gle/ocaTZHYBm6tcWTEM8

Hold My Heart 2022 5k Virtual Race For the past 12 years, Hold My Heart Foundation has worked to provide needs for families with a child in the NICU. These include gift cards for food and gas, clothing, car seats, and books. The foundation started as a way to remember and honor Alyssa Rutherford, James and Danielle Rutherford's first...

Our virtual race is next month! This is our yearly fundraiser and our way to celebrate Alyssa’s birthday.

Hold My Heart 2022 5k Virtual Race For the past 12 years, Hold My Heart Foundation has worked to provide needs for families with a child in the NICU. These include gift cards for food and gas, clothing, car seats, and books. The foundation started as a way to remember and honor Alyssa Rutherford, James and Danielle Rutherford's first...

With gas prices so high, gas gift cards are more in demand.

People always ask what they should get a family who has a child in the NICU (or any lengthy hospital stay). Gift cards for gas and food are what we suggest.

For donations to a hospital in your area, ask the social worker there to see what the needs are. In the past we have donated toiletries, baby clothes, and food items to stock the snack area.

We recently ordered gas cards and Wal Mart cards for the NICU. We have had people ask us why gift cards?

Many families are referred to Columbia. We were one of those families. It was a 2 hour drive, and we were able to stay in a hotel.

Gas cards help with the cost of gas for families who aren’t able to stay in a hotel.

Wal Mart gift cards are used for any needs (car seats, food, etc).

Thank you so much Abby Minneman / WA Real Estate Broker and Purpose Realty for thinking about our foundation, your donation allows us to continue to serve families with a child in the NICU.

As you may know, we dedicated our donations to various foundations this last quarter. Each agent chose a cause near and dear to their hearts. Thanks to all of our agents hard work, we were able to raise $7,963.00 to donate to charitable organizations in fourth quarter. For those of you following along at home the organizations that will benefit from this donation are: MHE Research Foundation - Fundraising, Fisher House Foundation, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Seattle Children's Hospital- Housing for Hope Guild & Hold My Heart Foundation 🤩🎉🥳😁

Thank you Everyone!
Whitney Marvin, Abby Minneman / WA Real Estate Broker, Corey Harvey Real Estate Broker, Matt Wilson Real Estate Broker, Renee J. Aquino - Real Estate, Kimberly Huff

Getting ready for a Christmas donation! If you would like to donate, please visit our website www.holdmyheartfoundation.com.

We recently purchased gas gift cards for Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Columbia. With the rising cost of gas, these are needed more.

If you would like to make a donation, here is a link. Donations are through PayPal and are tax-deductible.

https://holdmyheartfoundation.com/make-a-difference

Make a Difference Your generous support and contributions will enable us to meet our mission to help families with a child in the NICU. All donations are tax-deductible as we are a 501(c)3 organization.

Pregnancy and infant loss is something many don’t talk about daily. Today is a day to remember. Remembering all babies today and every day.

Happy Mother’s Day to all moms.

Hey everyone! If you are on Instagram, follow our page!

Hello everyone!

Lately we have had a lot of enthusiasm and interest for our annual virtual race!

We took some time to really reflect what went amazing last year and what can be improved.

After taking time to pray and discuss with our amazing volunteers, we are EXCITED to let you know that we will have a race this summer, August 29 - September 12.

Why?? Alyssa is the reason we felt called to start this non-profit and those 2 weeks are what I call Alyssa weeks. It is the time we celebrate her birthday and going home day. What better way to raise awareness?

Check out your emails starting in June! We look forward to another amazing race this year. Thank you so much for your support!

Hold My Heart Foundation added a button to help you learn more about them.

Check your inbox if you made a donation in 2020. If you need anything changed or did not receive one, please message Danielle at [email protected].

Thank you for your support! Without your generosity, we would not be able to help our families.

Today we brought a donation to the Tacoma General NICU. The social workers were very ecstatic to receive the stuffies to provide to the families. Danielle and I are very grateful for all of the continued support we receive. We are committed to helping families with a baby in the NICU as we know how hard it can be. So far this year we have made donations to the El Paso Children's Hospital and Columbia Women's and Children Hospital as well as individual donations through referrals. In the new year, we have plans to increase our donations thanks to your generosity. We are truly blessed to be able to help out these families in a small way!

💗

Update: we have surpassed our goal of 25 and have 30 bags sponsored! Thank you for everyone who donated.

For the holidays, we are getting bags together to donate for children here in Washington through Hold My Heart Foundation.

If you would like to donate, please message me or James.

Each bag will include a book and stuffie, along with a card that says “Happy Holidays from The ______ Family and Hold My Heart Foundation”. We are taking care of shipping, tax, and the baby books.

These bags are $20 and are a tax deduction. Please let us know if you would like to donate!

I also have baby toys and clothes to donate to the NICU in Columbia that I will ship in November. If you would like to donate to this, please let me know!