NILMDTS Parents and Family Members

[Tammy]

Dear Parents and Family Members,
On behalf of all of us here at NILMDTS, we welcome you to our forum site.

The purpose of this thread is to assist parents and family members who are interested in becoming actively involved with our organization, and who want to help get a chapter of NILMDTS started in your local area.

My name is Tammy Becker, I have been asked by Co-Founders Cheryl Haggard and Sandy Puc' to assist in this area, which I am happily obliged to do.
I'll start off by giving a little information about myself~ (not much to tell, but here it goes...*LOL*)
I live on an acreage in south-central Minnesota with my husband of 10 years, my sons Rorey age 7, Jacob age 3, and although our Baby Chase is not here with us physically, he lives forever in our hearts. Baby Chase was born an angel on August 25, 2005.
I have been a member of NILMDTS since October 10, 2005. I am also one of three Coordinators for the state of Minnesota.

Everyday, I am so thankful for this organization, thanks to Cheryl, Sandy, Dave, Kirk, Erin, Chantell, all those "behind the scenes", all of our wonderful photographers, our poets, musicians, and our parents and family members who make this organization real. Personally, I don't know where I would be today if NILMDTS was non-existent. I try not to think about that~I have my heart in this organization, and if there is an area I can help others, I am here.

I will begin posts with information on how to get things started, like everything else in life, there is a process, however it is a simple process. I welcome your questions, comments and concerns here as well, so if there is anything you need more information on, please let me know and I will do my best to get you going in the right direction.

If you would like to email instead:
tammy@nilmdts.org

I can be reached by phone at:
507-436-5532

or by mail:
1725 240th Avenue
Granada, MN 56039

Again, we welcome you, and hope you find the information on this site to be helpful, uplifting and at times... amusing. We have wonderful, caring members to offer support, encouragement, and an extra shoulder when needed. That is what we are all about~ being here for one another.

We hope you will consider becoming involved with NILMDTS. I have found the more I am able to help others, it helps my heart to heal also. As the saying goes; "A helpful hand leads to a healing heart", and that is so true. I feel I am honoring my precious son's life, by helping others. This is how I can heal.

Thank you, and I look forward to hearing from you.

~Many Blessings~

Tammy Becker
NILMDTS Parent & Family Coordinator

[Cheryl Haggard]

Tammy-We would really like to find Parent Coordinators for larger city areas. We have a letter that can be emailed to Professional Photographers asking for their affiliation. Along with this letter we send out a copy of the NILMDTS Photographers Agreement form. Let me know if and when you can start on this.
You are all doing so great. This has taken alot of pressure off of all of us...
Cheryl

[Tammy]

Cheryl~
Great idea~ I can start this anytime.

[Catherine Colgan]

I live between Cleveland, OH and Erie, PA. If I can be of any help, just let me know.

[Tammy]

(Message from Sam and Tammy) If you are interested in becoming a (parent)coordinator, please send an e-mail to tammy@nilmdts.org
Your Name
e-mail address
Contact phone number
Area (by city or region) you are serving. (Please note you are a "parent" interested in being a Coordinator for your area)
We would also like to list your additional photographers name and e-mail addresses.

We will update this list on a regular basis so please check back often.

Your Responsibilities will include:

AREA RECRUITMENT
Coordinators will help recruit additional photographers to assist with in each area. These photographers should be listed on the brochure. (Check the national website at www.nilmdts.org for a list of photographers in your area. If you are a parent interested in recruitment, you should first contact the listed photographers to find out if there is a need for additional assistance. Many of our photographers have an established relationship with the local hospitals already. The information of what hospitals they are working with is listed on the website. If there are no listed photographers, check your area phone books and make a list of the photographers you wish to contact. We will then provide you with the information to send to potential photographers.
**Please note** we need to have affiliated photographers established with NILMDTS before contacting local hospitals. Once this step is in place, we have information we can send to the hospitals.

LOCAL MEDIA-The coordinators will send out annual press release to promote community education about NILMDTS (We will provide this information to you)

BROCHURE DISTRIBUTION- Once you are listed as a coordinator, we will provide you with additional information for brochures. These can only be ordered by area coordinators.

Serving as a PR person for your local hospitals This would include contacting hospitals in your area and discussing NILMDTS services that have been offered to patients. Find out any concerns, ways to improve, number of sessions done, etc. This information would then be relayed back to the other Area Coordinators for discussion. (I will post more on this topic at a later time)

Contacting other Photographer volunteers Touching base with other photographers to see how things are going, answering questions and addressing concerns.



Sincerely,
Tammy Becker
NILMDTS Parent & Family Coordinator

[Tammy]

NILMDTS has a number of areas where parents and family members can help.

One important area is just getting the word out about our organization. This can be done through email, letters, word of mouth, local media contacts such as newpapers, radio and television.

If you are a parent/family member who has received services through NILMDTS or a parent/family member who learned of NILMDTS after experiencing a loss (I know of many families who have expressed how much they wished they could have had this service available way back when, and not so long ago...) you could be a valuable link to public acknowledgement and awareness of NILMDTS.

We are a new orgainization. The more public exposure we can gain, the more we will be able to help other families who find themselves in the position we have experienced; having our child (children) return to Heaven too soon.

We are currently seeking national sponsorship. One way to gain this is by grasping the attention of well known sources, i.e. Oprah, (and other nationally acclaimed personnel) a national news station like 20/20, Night Line, etc. I will look for some links, or if anyone has these links accessable, feel free to post them.

The more parents and photographers we can get involved with this effort, the better chances we have to get someone to listen.

[Tammy]

This is another big area where we need assistance. Because NILMDTS is a new organization, our funds are limited, which means a few of our current projects and new ideas are on hold at the moment. Parents and family members can be a huge help in this area.

Donations
Donations are tax deductible. These can be made individually, or if a company/ corporation would like to make a donation toward NILMDTS, we will post their business on our national website.

Parents and family members may make donations in their baby's name. We have cards you can have custom made for this purpose. If this is something you are interested in, please email me and I will get that information to you.

If any one has ideas or suggestions for inter/intra national fund raising, please share your ideas here. We have members listed in Trinidad, Canada, Israel, Italy, Australia and the United Kingdom also. It would be wonderful to find a way to raise funds in a worldwide effort.