One year after Caleb passed away, we celebrated his birthday in the best way, and what will now be a tradition…a pizza party! Caleb loved pizza, so we got together with family and friends and ate pizza and remembered our Caleb.
This was after we had established that the Caleb Smiles organization was going to be a for sure thing, so this was a donation based pizza party, and we raised a lot of money! $2189 to be exact!
Since we were so new as an organization, we didn’t have any individual families lined up to donate things directly to, so we did something a little different, and donated the money 3 different places.
Lincoln Developmental Center is near and dear to our hearts. When Caleb started going to school, he first attended Ken-O-Sha, and then moved to Lincoln, and we are still close to some of the staff there (Bev and Ann, for starters, who are 2 of our Board members!). They truly cared about Caleb, and we wanted to find a way to give back to them. The money we donated to the school was used to add items to Caleb’s Cart, a mobile cart loaded with sensory items and activities for all then students at LDC. The school was also able to purchase 3 HOPSA dresses for school, which are like “Johnny-jump ups” for kids with mobility issues.
We also donated money to Gilda’s Club GR, which is a support group for anyone on a cancer journey- survivors, family members who have lost someone, children, etc, but also for grief support. As parents who have lost a child, we started attending a parent’s support group and found a community that we were sad to be a part of, but appreciative to share with those that truly understand the journey we are now on.
Lastly, we donated to Hospice of Michigan. Caleb was on hospice in our home for 3 months, and I couldn’t imagine spending those last 3 months anywhere but at home. Hospice supported us and were there for anything we needed for us and for Caleb. They also provided us with memorial items that we treasure to this day. A teddy bear and a pillow sewn from shirts of Calebs, hand and feet molds, and Caleb’s heartbeat recorded.
Here are some photos!
We donated to LDC, Hospice of MI, and Gilda’s Club GR 
Fratelli’s pizza in GR donated food! 
Thank you to Frankie V’z for your donation! 
Thank you to Peppino’s Downtown GR for your donation! 
