Bid for Bellis Success & Big News Ahead!

Hello Bellis Community!

 It has been a while since I have updated you on all the activity here at Bellis and that is because it has been whirlwind!  It is hard to believe that our fundraiser was almost two months ago already. In that time, we have had some exciting news!

First, an enormous thank you to all of you who showed up and showed out for Bid for Bellis on April 25th. It was a huge success in every aspect – we had 3 incredibly courageous Bellis participants share their stories, over 100 people showed up to Town and Country Club to support the event, and we raised over $22,000 for Bellis programming. I was, and still am, without words. Thank you for honoring the experiences of the people Bellis supports every day through your words and actions. This is what community does, and I am beyond thrilled to be a part of such a compassionate group.

Secondly, Bellis recently was awarded a 3-year grant from the Sauer Family Foundation that will sustain us as we continue to build our earned income stream and fundraising capacity. Sauer has been an outstanding supporter of Bellis programming over the last 5 years, and they have multiplied their support due to the innovative direction we are headed, their belief in the deeply important work we are doing, and the knowledge that our support base is growing. The future is beyond bright for Bellis programming, development, and partnerships. We are forever grateful to Sauer Family Foundation for trusting us and believing in our mission to support women and men in their ambiguous loss and disenfranchised grief of having their children parented by others.

When you support Bellis, you tell the people we support that their experiences matter, that they matter, and they are worthy of the compassion and support necessary to live a life they can feel good about despite devastating loss. We are so excited to walk into this next chapter with you all and show the world how a little understanding, grace, and empathy can fundamentally change lives. We all do better when we all do better. Thank you for your continued support.

Written by Kelly Tronstad
M.Ed. and Licensed Parent Educator
Bellis Executive Director