McKenzie's Rays of Sunshine
Rays of Hope for Every Family Who Has Loved and Lost
How can we help?
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.
Find support →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.
Partner with us →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.
Give hope →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.
What we do
Our Programs
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.
See what's inside a kit →Annual Butterfly Release
Each year we gather families for a butterfly release — a healing moment of remembrance where every child's name is spoken aloud and every parent's love takes flight.
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
We're just getting started — and every kit matters. In our first few months McKenzie's sunshine has reached families through two area hospitals, one hand-packed kit at a time, alongside direct help toward funeral costs for families who needed 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.
Read our case for support →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.
- $130one family
- $650about five families
- $1,300about ten families
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