After suffering the pain of losing a child at birth, Kathleen and Steven Jeffers decided to assist others by creating the Scotty Michael Foundation.
Kathleen learned at a 28-week checkup that her baby boy had no heartbeat. Although the medical team was compassionate, the Noblesville couple felt alone with their grief after leaving Ascension St. Vincent Carmel.
They decided to help other parents in that situation by creating Scotty Boxes.
“Our boxes are to support families that have lost a baby in pregnancy or shortly after birth,” said Kathleen, who lost her baby, Scotty Michael, in September 2018.
To raise money for the boxes, the foundation will host its first golf scramble Sept. 10 at Plum Creek Golf Club in Carmel.
The boxes are given to parents at St. Vincent Carmel, but Kathleen said the goal is to distribute them to other hospitals in the area.
The boxes cost $100 to assemble but are given to families without charge. Among the items in the boxes are resource information on burial and cremation, memorial bears, a baby memorial book, a worry rock for fathers, a “Loved Baby” devotional, Guardian Angel necklace and toiletries for the hospital stay.
“We’ve received great feedback from the hospital and the women who received the boxes,” Kathleen said. “Our biggest goal is to eventually help families offset the financial cost that comes along with hospital bills of delivering a child and on top of that having to pay for funeral arrangements.”
The foundation has distributed 25 boxes since 2019.
Along with their 5-year-old daughter Lyla, the couple has an 8-month-old son, Jackson.
“He’s our rainbow baby,” said Kathleen, referring to a healthy baby born after a miscarriage, stillborn or neonatal death.
The foundation also sponsors One Sip At A Time, a coffee group that meets once a month for grieving mothers at a Fishers coffee shop.
“We occasionally do something for the dads as well,” Kathleen said.
Lunch and registration for the scramble starts at 11:30 a.m. with a shotgun start at 1 p.m. There will be a putting contest with a guaranteed winner for a seven-night resort stay for two, a chance to take a shot at $100,000 and a long-drive contests for men and women.
The cost for an individual is $150 for a round of golf, lunch, unlimited soft drinks, domestic beer and wine. The cost for a foursome is $600.
For more, visit scottymichael.org.
