The Memory Box Artist Program was developed to allow artists and crafters to use their creativity to benefit others by creating hand-crafted Memory Boxes to be given by hospital bereavement counselors and nurses to the families of newborn infants who die in the hospital or are stillborn.

Since our launch in June, 1998, the Memory Box Artist Program has shipped nearly 100,000 boxes to hospitals around the world. We currently need 2474 boxes per month to support the hospitals in our program. We have 681 hospitals in US, (Including Alaska and Hawaii) Canada, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Australia, and England that we have either sent or promised boxes. (To give you an idea of the need, there are over 500 hospitals in California alone, so we are truly in the beginning of our journey to meet the needs of these hospitals.) Generally boxes are paper mache, as they weigh less to mail, in sizes of 7" diameter and larger. The hospitals use the boxes to place photographs, locks of hair, hand and footprints, birth and death certificates, and other mementos of the child's life. The boxes are meant to be a celebration of the child's life, no matter how brief. Appropriate themes include anything child-like (toys, bears, etc.), as well as neutral themes such as flowers. Boxes may be decorated with paint, decoupage, collage, rubber-stamps, stickers, wallpaper cutouts, etc. You do not have to be an "artist" to participate in the program. We only ask that you create the kind of box you would want to receive if you were in the position of the family receiving the box.

To participate in the program, you need only decorate a paper mache box in a style appropriate for a mother to receive, and contact Marie Gemmil at mgemmil@windstream.net for information on where to send it. (Let her know how many boxes you have available and where you live so that we can try to get the boxes to a hospital in your area if possible.). You do not have to be a trained artist or crafter. Simply paint the box, and use stencils, stickers, rub-on transfers, or any other non-dimensional decoration. (Dimensional decorations may pop off in transit or over time.) Even if you only create one box, you will be helping! Every box makes a difference to the family that receives it.

For guidelines, to join our online mailing list about the program, and further information, please visit our website at http://www.memoryboxes.org/. For information on donations, or to write a story about the program, please contact Tera Leigh at tera@teraleigh.com or (405) 273-8372.