SAN DIEGO, Cali.-
“Some people say ‘Why would I want to donate to them, they are dead its of no use to them.’ But to us, these children deserve closer, these children deserve a dignified burial, they deserve the special treatment that the Garden of Innocence gives them” says Garden of Innocence Founder Elissa Davey.
This Making a Difference took me to San Diego, where I found a one of a kind organization that’s hope to become part of the Arizona community.
Since 1999 the Garden of Innocence’s mission is to bringing communities nationwide together, to care for a child who once had no one. Elissa Davey explains,” The Garden of Innocence is a charity nonprofit, that’s sole purpose to provide dignified burials for abandoned children. There was an article about a baby that was found in the trash and usually you read those articles, and then your day starts, you off running doing your own things, and forget. For some reason I couldn’t forget about that particular baby.
So finally a month later I called the coroner’s office, and I asked him ‘how do you claim a baby that’s not yours?’ and he said,’ show them you have a dignified place to put them…’ that’s how the Garden of innocence got started.”
The Gardens are making their way throughout county, and with several California locations and one in St Louis, they have laid to rest 307 children, with 23 more still to bury.
“It’s a sad and unfortunate realty, children dying unknown or abandoned. Right here at the Garden of Innocence, 162 children lay here, like Noah, which is why the founder of the garden says it so important that we bring something like this to Arizona.”{RENEE SUMMEROUR Reporting}
“Children that are dying in the desert that have tried to cross over to our land of freedom, normally if those were in the county care and they didn’t know who their family was or how to return them to their loved ones, then they would have been cremated or made to rest in a potter’s field. They don’t deserve to be in a potter’s field. So if can get the community of Yuma or any area of that part of California involved that would help us a lot” Davey explains.
The Garden Director Rebecca Ferguson says they want to inform the public, as they try to expand their gardens and increase their volunteers.
REBECCA FERGUSON adds,” A lot of times the first response that I get is, ‘Well I never knew there would be an organization for something like that.’ I love getting the awareness out there, I love talking to folks about it, and letting them know that we do exist, there is an organization to help these babies out. And it’s nice to be a part of an extended family.”
A family of community members honoring and bringing closure to children that were once abandoned, now loved, and remembered.
Davey concludes,” and it also brings closure to us, knowing that we did something good today, the baby was laid to rest with the care of our community.”