Bearing gifts of love
Courtesy photo Good friends Kyla Smith, 10, left, and Charlotte Werner, 11, are working on raising $1,000 to deliver Teddy bears and handmade cards to the moms and babies in the neonatal intensive care unit this Mother’s Day. “We want them to have a nice Mother’s Day and know their kids are appreciated,” Kyla said.
By DEVIN WEEKS
Staff Writer
COEUR d’ALENE — The neonatal intensive care unit isn't where new mommies and babies want to be on Mother's Day.
The NICU is "the unit that saves the lives of the babies that are born early and sick," as explained by 11-year-old Charlotte Werner and 10-year-old Kyla Smith.
Charlotte and Kyla are best friends and Ramsey Elementary students. They're also daughters of moms who work in the NICU at Kootenai Health, so they know how tough it is for new families when they are waiting to know their newborns are going to be OK.
"The moms and the nurses put in a lot of effort to take care of the babies and help them stay alive and be healthy again," Charlotte said.
This is why the two big-hearted little girls are raising $1,000 to give Teddy bears and handmade cards to every mommy and baby in the NICU this Mother's Day.
"We feel moms in the NICU, they're there all the time waiting for their babies to get out, even on Mother's Day," Kyla said. "We want them to have a nice Mother’s Day and know their kids are appreciated."
The girls are in an afterschool program together and devised their NICU Mother’s Day program all on their own.
"They’ve grown up knowing about babies and sick babies and moms their entire life," said Charlotte's mom, NICU manager Anna Werner, who praised both the girls' compassion and thoughtfulness.
"I think so much of a family's experience in the NICU is not what they're expecting," Anna said. "Anything that can make the experience into parenting and into being a family and being a mom more normal, that's what makes the experience and it's those things that they'll remember."
The girls are working with the Kootenai Health Foundation to raise the funds and deliver the bears and cards on Mother's Day. They plan to ask the nurses to include each baby's footprint in the moms' cards.
Kyla's dad, Jedediah, said nurses are a "special breed of people — they are caring, compassionate and they give their heart and soul to every patient they care for."
He said the girls are "spitting images" of their nurse moms.
"I believe that their purpose in completing this goal is to not only encourage the mothers and babies in the NICU on Mother's Day, but it is also a way that they can express to their mothers that what they do for these babies is important," he said. "I am very proud of Kootenai Health, these mothers/managers and, most importantly, these two beautiful girls for the love they have caring for people."
Charlotte said this project gives her a really good feeling in her heart.
"I just hope we can raise enough money by Mother's Day so all of the mothers in the NICU can smile," she said.
To contribute to or learn more about Kyla and Charlotte's Mother’s Day program, email Kclovebears@gmail.com or contact Kootenai Health Foundation annual giving and events manager Melanie Lambrecht at 208-625-4433 or mlambrecht@kh.org.