For grieving families
You've lost a child
You are not alone. Find grief support here in the New Orleans area, from counselors and pastoral care to groups of parents who understand.
IRS-Recognized 501(c)(3) Nonprofit · Southeast Louisiana
Rays of hope for every family who has loved and lost
How can we help?
For hospitals & NICUs
Request memory kits
We deliver hand-packed keepsake kits to NICU and labor & delivery teams across the New Orleans area, at no cost to the hospital or the family.
For donors & friends
You'd like to give
Every gift becomes a kit in a family's hands. Your tax-deductible donation carries McKenzie's light forward.
Our mission
McKenzie's Rays of Sunshine exists to ensure that families experiencing pregnancy and infant loss receive compassionate, practical support at the hospital and throughout the first year of grief. Beginning in Southeast Louisiana, we provide memory-making kits and funeral assistance while building a continuum of follow-up care that helps parents honor their child, preserve irreplaceable memories, and feel less alone.
Our flagship program
Memory-Making Kits
Each kit is packed by hand with handprint and casting molds, a keepsake box, a comfort bear, and other keepsakes chosen with the NICU teams we serve, so families can hold on to every precious moment forever. We deliver them straight into the hands of NICU and labor & delivery staff.
Weighted bear with heartbeat recorder
Matched to the baby's birth weight, with a recorder inside to preserve the baby's heartbeat.
NICU clothing for micro-preemies and preemies
Specially sized clothing lets parents dress their baby when standard newborn sizes are far too large.
Hand- and footprint casting and ink supplies
Casting and ink materials preserve tiny hands and feet in molds and prints for loved ones.
Personalized keepsake plaque
Space for a photograph, handprint, and footprint in one lasting piece.
Memory and guidance materials
A place for a lock of hair, a card, and gentle printed guidance for the hours ahead.
$130
a complete bereavement kit for one family
Our annual gathering
Every name, spoken out loud
Once a year we gather families together and open the boxes at the same moment. Every child's name is read aloud, and for a little while the grief is shared rather than carried alone. For many parents it is the one day of the year they hear someone else say their child's name.
A gift of $75 sponsors one family at the release. Families are never charged to attend.
Funeral Assistance
No family should have to choose between saying goodbye well and what they can afford. We provide direct assistance toward funeral expenses when our resources allow.
Grief Resource Referrals
No family should grieve alone. We connect parents and siblings with trusted counselors, pastoral support, and community groups across greater New Orleans.
Where her light has reached
Delivered by hand, into the hardest moments
McKenzie's Rays of Sunshine reaches families through two area hospitals, one hand-packed kit at a time, alongside direct help toward funeral costs for families who need it. Each delivery is a promise: that no family will face goodbye with empty arms.
You do not have to do this alone
Support for the days after loss
In the weeks after we lost McKenzie, the hardest part was not knowing where to turn. So we gathered the people and organizations who helped us — grief counselors, bereavement photographers, faith communities, and groups of parents who have walked this road — and put them in one place for you.
Every organization listed is one we know and trust here in Louisiana. If you need something we don't have, tell us, we will help you find it.
McKenzie's Story
“She was loved before she arrived, and she will be loved forever.”
McKenzie was here. She was held, known, and deeply loved. Our time with her was only six days, and those days were filled with extraordinary love. The palliative care nurses around us encouraged us simply to be her parents, to hold her, dress and bathe her, read to her, and make memories together.
Only later did we learn that many of those keepsakes had been paid for by hospital staff or donated by other bereaved parents. While we were there, we grieved that McKenzie would never see the sun. Her name grew from that heartbreak, and from our promise that her light would reach other families.
- First gift given
- December 2024 · Casma, Peru
- Founded in her honor
- Gretna, Louisiana
In their words · Stories of Hope
Give a family a place to hold their love
Every gift, no matter the size, helps us pack another memory kit, gather families to remember, and walk alongside a grieving parent. Your donation is fully tax-deductible.
Kit giving levels are based on an estimated $130 material cost per kit and are intentionally approximate. 501(c)(3) Nonprofit · EIN 41-3375360 · Tax-deductible to the full extent of the law.