Women Who Shine–Bridget Crews from Molly Bears

I don’t remember at all who first told me about Molly Bears, without a doubt another loss Mom but I don’t remember specifically who but I instantly fell in love with the concept.

In case you don’t know what Molly Bears is, and I really hope you don’t, because most people only know because they themselves have been touched by infant loss or someone they know has been, it’s a non-profit organization that makes and sends customized weighted bears to grieving families.

Bridget Crews is the mother who founded Molly Bears.

When Bridget was 34 weeks pregnant she lost her daughter Molly due to a tight true know in her cord. Molly entered this world on May 30th 2010 and she has forever changed the lives of her family and hundreds of other families.

Bridget was given a weighted teddy bear from a close high school friend and in an effort to make the bear weigh the same as Molly she bought a package of rice and filled the bear until it weighed the same as Molly. Just like that the first Molly Bear was made.

After making the first Molly Bear, Bridget knew that she had to continue to make these bears. She started by making them for close friends from support groups she was in and soon she was getting requests from other people.

Molly Bears was officially started in August of 2010. They currently have OVER 4,000 orders and have already made 2,000 bears.

I have been on the list for a couple of months now, the wait is about a year. The wait is so long for a couple of reasons. Sadly the demand is high and the other reason is that all Molly Bears made are sent to the family completely free of charge. Families don’t pay for anything, supplies, shipping nothing. Families requesting a Molly Bear have the option to donate which I’m sure many do but it’s still not enough.

Bridget and Molly Bears needs all the funds that they can get. Please consider giving your vote to Bridget on Yahoo’s Women Who Shine contest. You can also like the Yahoo Women Who Shine FB page to keep up to date on the nomination process:

Molly Bears needs all the help they can get and they deserve it for brightening the lives of so many families who have experienced infant loss. Here is what Molly Bears mean to a few women I have had the honor of meeting thanks to our angel babies.

My Molly bear was a ray of sunshine when all I felt was darkness. I will never forget how excited I was when I drove home from the cemetery and found the package on my front porch-it was the first time I had been excited in a long time. Feeling the weight of my sweet angel Avery once again gave me hope that better days were sure to come. I often close my eyes and rock my Avery bear to go back to that day when I last held her in my arms. My Avery bear is a soft and gentle hug on the days that I need it the most, and for that I will always be grateful. –Carey Mother to angel Avery (Dear Avery)

My Molly Bears are the closet I’ll ever get to holding my angels again. They deffinately help to fill my empty arms on those rough bad days.–Miranda mother to angels Lucy, Maddie and Gracie

As you can see Molly Bears mean so much to the families who get them please vote for Bridget so that she can continue to enriches the lives of families who have loved, lost and continue to love their angels.

Disclosure: I was compensated for this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms blogging program. The opinions and ideas expressed here are my own. To read more posts on this topic, click here.