News of our Year End totals for 2013

NEW TOTALS FOR HOSPITALS SERVED: 216
TOTAL LAYETTES GIVEN SINCE 1992, BEGINNING WITH 8 TO ONE HOSPITAL: 19,835

At our annual Volunteer Christmas Gathering in December, Carol Slaugh, founder and coordinator of our program, announced that this past year we have added 12 new hospitals to our growing list of hospitals served.
CALIFORNIA:  Chula Vista / Sharp CVMC;  Santa Clara / Santa Clara Co Valley MC
IOWA:  Sheldon / Sanford MC Sheldon
MONTANA:  Browning Blackfeet Community
NEW JERSEY:  Secaucus / Meadowlands Hospital
NEW YORK:  Hudson / Columbia Memorial
TENNESSEE:  Murfreesboro / St Thomas Rutherford MC;  Nashville / Centennial Women's
WASHINGTON:  Seattle / Swedish Ballard MC; Seattle / UWMC
WISCONSIN:  Sheboygan / St Nicholas Hospital;  River Falls / River Falls Area Hospital

Embellishing , Labor of Love, Florence, Oregon

NEWS FROM OUR 'SISTER' SATELLITE IN ARIZONA

A satellite group that began in 2007, in Wellton, Arizona, has continued to grow as well. Up until now, we have kept the Wellton statistics separate. They have been serving 26 new hospitals that we had not reported on this Website.  The Wellton volunteers are headed up by Sandy Sagert from British Columbia. That group has continued to produce Minutes of Gold layettes each winter season and is responsible for the hospitals listed below.  (Sandy also started a group in Canada but those are not listed here or included in these totals)  We are listing all of the hospitals now in order to give a true picture of the work that we have done.
ARIZONA:  Casa Grande / Regional Hospital;  Show Low / Summit Health Center
COLORADO:  Denver / St Joseph;  Denver / Denver Health Hospital;  Westminster / St Anthony
         North Hospital
IDAHO:  Malad City / Oneida County Hospital
MINNESOTA:  Duluth / SMDC;  Grand Rapids / Grand Itasca MC;  Hibbing / Fairview MC;
        Princeton / Fairview Northland MC;  Staples / Lakewood Health System;  Shakopee / St                 Francis MC;  Virginia / Virginia Regional MC; Worthington / Worthington Regional Hospital
MONTANA:  Havre / Northern Montana Hospital
NEBRASKA:  Omaha / Alegent Health Bergan Mercy Hospital
NEW MEXICO:  Albuquerque / UNM Hospital;  Deming / Mimbres Memorial
NORTH DAKOTA:  Fargo / Essentia Health
OKLAHOMA:  Norman / Norman Regional
SOUTH DAKOTA:  Souix Falls / Avera McKennman Hospital;  Souix Falls / Sanford Women's             Health
WISCONSIN:  Chippewa Falls / St Joseph;  Eau Claire / Luther Middleford Hospital; 
         Eau Claire / Sacred Heart Hospital;  New Richmond / Holy Family Hospital

MEMORIAL OFFERS

From our Oregon Headquarters,when a recipients of our gifts sends us a donation, we may offer  memorial layettes to be sent the hospital of their choice.  We do this by adding a small memorial card to each layette in a special order.   This card will read as: Donated by, name and date of the family's lost little one. This way the memory of their baby lives on and the future family that receives it will know that they are not alone.
.

BLANKET "ANGELS" IN HAVASU CITY, ARIZONA

Volunteer, Sonja Liles, (center) accepts 161 beautiful tiny hand crafted blankets from the "Knotty Knitters" group in Havasu City before returning to Florence, Oregon, Minutes of Gold Headquarters.  These gifts will be packed with gowns and bonnets to be shipped to many hospitals requesting fetal demise layettes for their infant bereavement programs.  Another sample of loving, caring people, doing God's work.  There really are "Angels on Earth"!

WORLD WIDE RECOGNITION

On March 27th, we received a "Thank You" from the MARCH OF DIMES international organization.  This was the posting on FaceBook:  For those that need to enhance a bereavement program for early loss pregnancies, there is a volunteer group in Oregon that can help ease the pain that families experience: http://minutesofgold.blogspot.com/

HOSPITAL COMMENTS

Dear Minutes of Gold Coordinator,

I like to take a minute to thank you everytime I ask for another shipment of layettes because I see the difference these beautiful layettes, blankets and roses make in the lives of grieving families. Many parents that experience an infant loss are very young and afraid of the unknown. During the admission process, we counsel parents that we will give them as much time to hold and see their baby as they want or feel they need. The common reaction to this is wide eyes and parents politely declining. I just want you to know that 99% of our parents change their minds after we have washed, diapered, dressed, and bundled their babies. They reach out for their baby and burst into tears and look at us and say a heartfelt "thank you"! It is really you they are thanking and I want to pass that on to you. You deserve it. Thank you so much for taking the time to bless these sweet families. JL/RN Kaiser Sunnyside, Clackamas OR

Dear Special Friends

On December 21st, we lost our granddaughter, Hannah Joy, who was only 20 wks. at birth.  This was a devastating time not only for our daughter and her wonderful husband but for all of their extended family members.  This sweet, Christian, couple have been married for 2 years and were eagerly awaiting their first child.  Due to unforeseen circumstances their baby was born too early and did not survive.  Our precious daughter was not sure she could face seeing her stillborn child but with the help of her  wonderful nurses and the beautiful white layette you provided for Hannah, our daughter and her husband were presented their tiny, perfect infant daughter.  Your generous gift of love gave us several hours to hold and love our Hannah wrapped in a beautifully made, soft white blanket and to see her as a sweet little baby dressed in miniature bonnet and gown.  I will never be able to adequately express our thanks to all of you.  You helped us to view our granddaughter as the beautiful gift from God that she was.
From our family to all the members of Minutes of Gold, we pray that you will be richly blessed in the coming year.

Most sincerely,
Beth T.

Delivering hospital: Sentara Princess Anne, Virginia Beach, VA.

A Monetary Donation From a Couple of Angels

We received a phone call today from a wonderful couple that has interest in our mission to provide Fetal demise layettes for early loss pregnancies.  They have been providing beautiful blankets and recognize the need for the grieving famlies to receive our gifts.  To further aide our program, they have offered to donate a monthly cash deposit into our checking account automatically starting next month, January, 2010.

Another Wonderful Gift For Us

Grammy nominated composer, Charles Suniga of Portland,  has written another wonderfully soft peaceful composition for his "Moments of Peace" CD series.  He has given us a beautiful gift in allowing us the rights  because he named it "Minutes of Gold" just for us.

Arizona Volunteers (Angels)

Proud and Happy after another successful year. These "Angels" completed over 400 Infant Bereavement Layettes in the few months that they spend in the Arizona sunshine. There really are "Angels" on earth.
Click to enlarge.

Merry Christmas with the Greatest Gift of ALL

 An email came in to us in early December from a couple in Southern California that had experienced an early loss of triplets in August of this year.

NEWS RELEASE

In September of 2006 House Resolution #222 was passed in the House of Representatives declaring

501-C3

 Minutes of Gold is now a Tax Exempt Public Charity, 501 C-3 Corporation. The project is completely funded by private donations. If you would like to help with financial needs, you may contact Carol Slaugh founder and coordinator. Checks may be payable to Minutes of Gold and sent to 406 Sherwood Loop, Florence, Oregon.

Our tax ID # is: 20-4908115

Relocating Headquarters to Florence Oregon

After 7 years of traveling, we decided to put down roots again in our favorite place to spend our summers, Florence, Oregon. In 2004, after getting settled into an adult gated community, it was time to introduce the idea of making the Infant Bereavement Layettes project to the local residents of Florentine Estates.

Recruiting and Sharing

Carol and her husband Dick, retired to join the RV lifestyle. Carol introduced her mission to fellow RV'ers during their first winter spent in the south. Soon volunteers at Desert Palms RV Resort in Salome, Arizona. began to help and requested to supply their own hometown hospitals.  The next year the project began to grow and served 7 hospitals in several states.  Each year volunteers,