Having a place to grieve the loss of a child is something a parent felt the Riverview Cemetery needed.
Cristy Price of Green River knows all to well how difficult the grieving process can be.
Price, the mother of Maicy Braden, 17, who died Oct. 3, 2016, when her vehicle was struck by a semi truck, is trying to raise enough money to purchase an Angel of Hope statue.
“Although this has started as a result of Maicy’s accident, the Angel of Hope statue is for all members of our community,” Price said. “The intent is to provide a place for grieving parents; any and all grieving people who have lost loved ones are able to visit the angel and hopefully find a moment of peace and hope.”
Price said the angel statue idea came from a book called “The Christmas Box” by Richard Paul Evans. The book was later made into a movie in 1995 called “The Christmas Box.”
According to the website http://www.richardpaulevans.com/angel-statues/, in the book, a mother grieves for her child at the base of an angel statue. After the book was published, people contacted Evans and asked him where they could find one of these statues. Although the story was mostly fiction, an angel monument had existed at one time, but was destroyed.
In response to the parents seeking out an angel, a monument was dedicated on Dec. 6, 1994, which was date of the child’s death in the book. At the request of Sexton Paul Byron and Salt Lake City Mayor Deedee Corradini, Salt Lake City donated the land on which the monument stands and it’s located in the Salt Lake City Cemetery. Now, there are more than 120 angel statues throughout the country.
“Someone had mentioned to me after Maicy’s accident that when their child died, they did not have anywhere to go to find peace and how lucky I am to be able to visit Maicy at the cemetery.”
After hearing this comment and about the angel statute in the book, Price thought this would be perfect for this community.
Price said she spoke with Riverview Cemetery staff about placing the angel in the cemetery. The angel will be donated to the Green River Cemetery and placed in a section overlooking infants and children.
The roughly 4-foot statue, with a wingspan of roughly 5 feet and a base of 22 inches costs $14,500. It’s made out of 1/2 inch thick bronze from her feet up and is mostly hallow. This cost doesn’t include the foundation needed to secure the statue to.
Price said she has already had a few companies in town offer to donate the material for the foundation.
Even though $8,000 has been raised so far through barbecues, paint night, Pizza Hut donation night and Norwex, Scentsy and Agnes and Dora sales, Price still has a ways to go. She has already ordered the statue and once she has the rest of the money it will be shipped.
Price said there will be more fundraisers including a gun raffle, a 5K and yoga in the park.
She’s also working with local businesses to see if they can host a donation day, like Pizza Hut did when it donated 20 percent of their proceeds for a day to the statue.
Cecelia Gibb is offering 20 percent of all Norwex sales to the angel statue until all the money is raised. Please contact Price at cristylprice@gmail.com for info on buying from the Norwex fundraiser.
Raising the funds for this statue has been going well and people have been pretty receptive.
“There have been so many people reaching out to Maicy’s family since the accident and many more reaching out to help with this Angel Statue Project,” she said. “Sami Doak, momma to Stella Doak, has also joined me in this journey to help with fundraising along with many other angel momma’s in our community. My goal is to have the angel statue here and dedicated on Oct. 3, 2017, in memory of my Maicy. I just want to thank everyone for their generosity, we are truly blessed.”
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