Every child matters
However brief a life, it is a life worth honoring. We speak their names and hold their memory with reverence.
Why we exist
Born from love. Carried forward in her light.
McKenzie's Rays of Sunshine was founded by a family who knows this grief firsthand, and turned their heartbreak into comfort for others.
Why this work exists
Our case for support, page by page
Case for Support
McKenzie's Rays of Sunshine
When goodbye comes too soon, families deserve more than an empty room.
Use the arrows, the dots, or your keyboard's ← → keys · download the full case for support (PDF)
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 Vision
We envision a future in which every family facing the loss of a baby is surrounded by compassionate care, from the first overwhelming hours in the hospital through the first year of grief. Every parent will have the support to make precious memories, meaningful ways to carry their child's presence home, and a community that continues to remember their child by name.
No family grieves alone
We show up in the hardest moments with tangible comfort, and we stay, connecting families to the support they need.
Love, carried forward
The kindness once shown to us, we now pass on, hand to hand, family to family, in McKenzie's memory.
From our family
A promise we made in her memory
McKenzie's Rays of Sunshine is a Louisiana nonprofit created in memory of McKenzie to support families experiencing pregnancy and infant loss. Founded by parents with firsthand understanding of the importance of compassionate bedside care and meaningful keepsakes, the organization partners with hospitals to make memory-making resources available to families at no cost. In its first months, McKenzie's Rays of Sunshine has placed kits with two Southeast Louisiana hospitals and provided direct assistance toward funeral expenses for grieving families. Its work is guided by dignity, parent choice, and the belief that every child deserves to be remembered by name.
We are an IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and every gift goes directly to families. Thank you for helping us keep McKenzie's light shining.
- First gift given
- December 2024 · Casma, Peru
- Founded in her honor
- Gretna, Louisiana
- Recognized as
- 501(c)(3) · EIN 41-3375360
Help us carry her light forward
Whether you give, volunteer, or simply share our story, you become part of McKenzie's sunshine.