Events

Please join us for these special events and meetings. For more information, please contact us by email  sidsma27@aol.com

Infant Loss Support Groups:

SIDS Mid-Atlantic sponsor a support group for anyone who has lost a baby. The group meets the first Thursday evening of every month from 7 to 9 pm at McLean Presbyterian Church, 1020 Balls Hill Road , McLean , Virginia, in the Parlor.

The support group is free and open to anyone affected by the loss of a baby due to any cause. It is always helpful for the newly bereaved families to have the support of families who have “been through it.”

For more information on coping with the death of a baby, please contact SIDS Mid-Atlantic at 703-955-6899 or sidsma27@aol.com or www.sidsma.org

MIS/SHARE Grief Group Meeting Schedule

( 301-460-6222 (24-hour message line)

Virginia – MIS/SHARE

Meeting Location:

St. Luke's United Methodist Church

7628 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA

Meets the 2 nd Thursday of every month 7:30-9:30 p.m.

Contact:  Carolyn Mara ( 703-754-5836

Virginia – SPAL

(Subsequent Pregnancy After a Loss)

Contact: Carolyn Mara ( 703-754-5836

Maryland – MIS/SHARE

Meeting Location:

Holy Cross Resource Center (Rm. #6) (across from Holy Cross Hospital )

9805 Dameron Drive Silver Spring , MD 20910 

Meets the 1 st Tuesday of every other month 7:30-9:30 p.m.

Contact:  Jeanine McGrath 301-754-7030 ext. 1081 or (c) 240-481-3903 .

For Spanish Speakers:

Call Maria Robles ( 703-326-9262

Para Información en Español: Llame por Teléfono a Maria Robles  703-326-9262

For support with subsequent pregnancies,

Carolyn Mara   703-754-5836

Please call group leaders to confirm meeting times and for directions to the meeting locations. For recorded information on all MIS services call 301-460-6222 . To contact the clinical coordinator, Carol S. Miller, call 703-532-2750 .

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Loss and Grieving in Pregnancy and

the First Year of Life

RTS Bereavement Certification Training

November 23 and 24 2009

SIDS Mid-Atlantic and Prince William Hospital

$150

This comprehensive two-day program provides insights, knowledge and hands-on experience to gain the skills necessary to interact with families experiencing perinatal loss. Participants hear directly from parents who have experienced a perinatal loss as well as from professionals who care for these families. Other topics covered include grief theory, interdisciplinary approaches, creating memories, follow-up procedures and strategies for intervention. Each participant receives a March of Dimes Nursing Module, “Grief and Loss in Pregnancy and the First Year of Life” with current perinatal bereavement resources and standards of care for pregnancy loss, stillbirth and newborn death. The course is open to health professionals and others who care for parents experiencing perinatal loss.

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 Objectives:

Following this conference, the participant will be able to:

Explain the theoretical framework for attachment, grief and loss.

Relate grief theory to strategies for caring for bereaved parents.

Explain various cultural and religious beliefs about infant death.

Develop strategies designed to meet the needs of grieving parents.

 

Certification:

Ceus for nurses have been applied for through the Virginia Nursing Association Ceu's for Counselors have been applied for through the NBCC, and for social workers through NASW

To register email Betty Connal at bconnal@aol.com

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Please join us for the annual SIDS Mid-Atlantic

"Celebration of Remembrance"

Sunday November 8 2009

from 5 to 8 p.m.

at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington  

4444 Arlington Boulevard

Arlington, Virginia

Family and friends of babies who have died from any cause

are welcome to attend.

The church is at the corner of Route 50 (Arlington Blvd)

and George Mason Drive.

Enter the parking lot from George Mason Drive.

Please bring a dish to share.

If  your last name begins with letters

A through H, please bring a salad,

I through P please bring a side dish,

and Q through Z, please bring a dessert.

Family members and friends are all welcome to attend.

Children are especially welcome, and we will have people available to entertain them during the service.

The family dinner and get together will be followed by a brief

and moving memorial service in the chapel.

If you have a picture of your baby that you would like to include in the slide show, please email it to bconnal@aol.com

If you have a poem, prayer or anything you would like to read or have read in memory of your baby, please bring it.

We hope you all will join us for this special occasion.

RSVP to Betty Connal at

bconnal@aol.com

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Please join us on Friday June 13 for the fourth annual Stratton Woods Golf Tournament in memory of Kylie Xiu Clifford

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Reston National Golf Club, Reston VA

1pm for lunch and check in, 2 pm shotgun start

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$120 includes lunch, greens fees, and "goody bag"

Get a team together from work or your friends, have fun, and help raise money for SIDS Mid-Atlantic to support outreach and education.  

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SIDS Walk 2007  slide show of the walk to fight SIDS

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2007 SIDS Celebration of Remembrance  slide show

Please come to the second annual Brisan's Bash

in Memory of Brisan Winner

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June 24 2007, noon till 6 p.m.

9070 Meetze Road, Warrenton Virginia

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A Fantastic Fundraiser for SIDS Mid-Atlantic

$5 admission for children $20 for adults

Raffles and door prizes! 

one week vacation in Cabo San Lucas Mexico

Day trip for four to St. Michaels Maryland from Watermark Cruises

Gift Certificates, Gift Baskets and more

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Food donated by Outback!  Fun and games, face painting and tattoos, water slide! Bring bathing suits

for more information contact Michelle Winner  michelle@bedbugdesigns.com

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Past Events

OUR PHOTO GALLERIES are here.

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Second Annual Stratton Woods Charity Golf Classic
In Memory of Kylie Xiu Clifford June 16th Click here

First Annual Brisan's Bash June 24 Click here

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SIDS Mid-Atlantic Celebration of Remembrance: “ Creating Memories”

Saturday November 19 6 to 9 P.M.

The Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington

This event includes a potluck dinner and memorial. Please click here for details.

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SIDS WALK 2005  Sunday September 11

Almost 3000 babies a year—as many people who died at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001—die of SIDS in the United States every year.
72 babies in Virginia and 55 babies in Maryland died of SIDS last year, and another 110 babies died of “other” sudden infant death causes, such as accidental suffocation in unsafe beds, infection, and undiagnosed metabolic or cardiac disorders. We walk in memory of these children and to raise funds to prevent other infant deaths.

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BOWLING FOR SIDS April 28, 2004

Worldwide candle lighting® on National children's memorial day

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December 12, Sunday, at 7 pm local time for one hour. A 24-hour remembrance for all children who have died, held by The Compassionate Friends. www.compassionatefriends.org

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Celebration of Remembrance 2004

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The 2004 Celebration of Remembrance Memorial Service was Saturday November 13, 2004 at Messiah United Methodist Church in Springfield, Virginia.

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Click here for a photo gallery of this event.

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David Ratliff, father of Chloe, sang the song he wrote in her memory: "Chloe's Playground."

Ornaments for each baby in the shape of stars were created by Patti Smith, grandmother of Louis Copps.
"Perhaps they are not stars, but rather openings in heaven where our loved ones shine down to let us know they are happy"

Dona Dei, Parish Nurse, led us in prayer:

" Blessed are those who kindle the flame of creation
Blessed are those who spark the imagination
Blessed are those who weave threads of life throughout the generations
Welcome little ones, children of God, loved by God,
Who turn our longing for healing into illumination."

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           September 19, 2004 at 2pm.

           Floris Elementary School, Herndon, VA

Click here for Kylie's memorial page on this site.

Click here to see pictures from the dedication.

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WAWA/SIDS MA benefit Golf Tournament

           The golf tournament that Wawa is hosting for us.

           September 17, 2004 10am to 5pm

           The Crossings Golf Club in Richmond, VA.

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8TH ANNUAL SIDS WALK 2004

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Benefiting SIDS Mid-Atlantic, Wawa, Inc., and the CJ Foundation for SIDS

Sunday, September 12, 2004. Thank you for helping us to pursue the mission of a future in which no parent is faced with the tragedy of losing a baby to SIDS.

Locust Shade Park, Triangle, VA; First Landing State Park, Virginia Beach, VA; Buddy Attick State Park, Greenbelt, MD.

Here are SIDS Walk posters PDF 1, PDF 2.

Click here for a photo gallery of the Walk at Locust Shade Park in Triangle.

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SIDS Mid-Atlantic "Celebration of Remembrance"

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Sunday November 16, 2003
6 P.M. to 9 P.M.
The Unitarian Church of Arlington
4444 Arlington Boulevard
Arlington, VA

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The theme of the Celebration of Remembrance was
"The Gifts Our Children Brought Us"

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Click here for a photo gallery of this event.

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We invited families to share in the celebration in writing or verbally by contributing to a new tradition. We had a tablecloth available to write a few lines describing how your baby's brief life enriched your life, the special meaning your baby has in your life, and how your relationship with your baby has continued.

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We will use these tablecloths for future celebrations and add to them over the years.

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The family dinner and get together was followed by a moving memorial service in the chapel.

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Sids Walk 2003

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SIDS Mid-Atlantic, CJ Foundation for SIDS, and Wawa , Inc. participated in the seventh annual SIDS Walk Sunday (click here to see photos of the event) September 14, 2003 at two locations, Locust Shade Park in Triangle and First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach. As you can see in the pictures, it's an enjoyable and memorable event for families.

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