Hello, "Wisdom Warriors," I'm Back! If you follow me on social media (if you aren't you should) you saw that about a week ago a project I've put so much time, energy, and heart into reached its completion! The "Cuddle for Noah" project was inspired by my cousin "Noah" who was born sleeping at 18 weeks. The whole process started when I came across this youtube video... Before this, I had no idea what a Cuddle Cot even was. However, by the end of the video, I knew this was something that I wanted to do. With no idea where to begin, I took to "Google" and found that this is a widespread desire, yet they rarely reach completion. Right off the bat, I wanted to give myself an important deadline so that I could push myself to reach my goal. With my 20th birthday right around the corner, it felt like perfect timing. So, I knew that if I was going to start this fundraiser, I wasn't going to stop. I knew that I would get this done no matter what. I would pound the pavement if I had to, but I wouldn't let this endeavor fizzle out. Naturally, when I started the fundraiser, I initiated a "GoFundMe" page. However, for me to do that I needed to know how much this was going to cost. Which led me to reach out to the company- Flexmort. They gave me a fantastic price, and in my mind, I was off to the races. By the time my birthday arrived, I had $0 in donations having only promoted it on social media. Immediately I began plotting my next move on what was going to make this happen. I knew that for any of this to happen, I needed a larger audience to hear how vital "Cuddle Cots" are which led me to reach out to an area newspaper. It took a while to get a plan together as far as the article went and in the meantime, I had contacted "William Newton Memorial Hospital" - the hospital I planned to donate the "Cuddle Cot" to. While the article was being put together, the newspaper reached out to the hospital for a comment, and they hadn't even seen my email yet. It was right around this time that I received a call that I believe altered the fate of my project entirely. I was called in for a meeting with the Foundation Director at William Newton Hospital. Going into this meeting, I was terrified. I mean here I am - 20 years old- trying to accomplish something that feels so hugely important to me, and I just found out that a hospital executive wants to meet with me. At the time of the meeting, I sat down with the aforementioned Foundations Director - Annika Morris, as well as "William Newton Hospital"'s Director of Marketing - Sarah Bryant. Needless to say, I felt entirely out of my element, but that feeling didn't last long. These women were so incredibly wonderful to me and felt just as excited about this project as I was. They began planning and strategizing with me, and by the end of the meeting- the "Cuddles for Noah Project" was born now under the "William Newton Hospital Foundations." This change not only made me completely ecstatic and thrilled, but it facilitated a significant change in pace. Right away, everything that I had already started was coming together and worked in perfect time with the new trajectory of the project. Within a day or so after my meeting with the "William Newton" team, the article I had been working on with the newspaper was released... Once the article came out - 12 HOURS LATER - One donor (Shelley Funeral Home in Arkansas City, KS) stepped up and funded the ENTIRE project. Of course, other donors stepped up as well and grew the "Cuddles for Noah Project" even more. With the remaining funds to go towards bereavement training in the OB department. Ultimately, I couldn't be more thrilled with the way everything turned out. I feel like I genuinely answered my calling and honored my cousin Noah in the most fantastic way. Even though I put in a ton of leg work I do firmly believe that this is not a project that was mine, it was always Noah's - he worked through me, but this was all him. I hope by sharing this journey that someone else out there will be inspired to spark a much-needed change in the childbirth experience. XOXO, Hunter P.S. Keep Scrolling ... Behind the Scenes Photos:Speaking of answering a calling... Have you heard of Sand Cloud?! I began an ambassador for them as a way to fulfill my calling to #savethefishies. You can use my code: "Hunterferguson99800" to get 25% off you purchase! 10% of any purchase made goes to marine conservation organizations. "Fact No. 100: In the US Alone Approximately 500 Million Straws Are Used Every Day."
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Hunter FergusonHolding her Associates of Arts in Political Science, Implementing Beneficial Community Project, and having Led a Student Collaboration team at her college of attendance- Hunter chooses to blog about the world around her as well as her personal experiences in hopes of creating a Powerful group of like-minded people. Archives
July 2019
Categories |