People gather Friday morning for opening ceremonies at a heart-shaped garden at Rumford Hospital to honor the memory of infants, children and stillborn babies. The space was provided by the hospital in June and was recently reshaped by members of the Colby Fund, which was organized in 2003 to provide financial and other types of support to parents who have lost children. The gathered group includes organizers and supporters of the fund. Bruce Farrin/Rumford Falls Times

RUMFORD — The River Valley area will hold its its first Walk to Remember on Sunday to support parents who have experienced loss from a miscarriage, a stillborn baby or infant death.

October is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month.

Registration begins at 9 a.m. and the 1.2 mile walk starts at 10 a.m. at the heart-shaped garden near the helicopter pad at Rumford Hospital, 420 Franklin St.

Money raised will support the Colby Fund, which provides financial and other support services to parents who have suffered loss.

At a ceremony Friday morning, organizers and supporters of the fund dedicated the redesigned the garden space provided by the hospital in June. It is shaped like a heart and honors the memory of stillborn babies and infants.

As part of the ceremony, seven plaques were placed on an exterior wall of the hospital to remember those who have died.

The Colby Fund was created in 2003 in memory of Colby Langlois, according to St. Mary’s Health System’s website.

He died Nov. 28, 2003, at birth at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Lewiston, the son of David and Leanne (Campbell) Langlois of General Turner Hill in Turner, according to his obituary.

His parents requested that money donated in his memory be used to fund a bereavement program for families dealing with miscarriages, stillborn, or infant death, according to the St. Mary’s website.

Tammy Brule-Fournier, a nurse at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, attended Friday’s ceremony. “At that time there was no one skilled in training surrounding pregnancy and infant loss,” she said. “They were told to make arrangements and they didn’t know where to go. Parents don’t have the money to be buying caskets, gravesites, memorial markers.”

The fund, she said, “started a program where parents could honor their baby by providing them with financial support to help defer the cost for families experiencing loss. That was our original goal of the Colby Fund.”

Since then, Brule-Fournier said, the Colby Fund has grown to be so much more.

“We have stillbirth doulas, photographers that come into the hospital to take pictures with the families and make memories. We have a reference library and run a monthly support group for pregnancy and infant loss. But the biggest thing we do is that we bring knowledge and awareness surrounding pregnancy and infant loss.”

The Lewiston hospital also has a memorial garden to honor deceased children.

Central Maine Healthcare is the parent company of CMMC and Rumford Hospital.

Sunday’s Walk to Remember will be the first one for the River Valley area, Brule-Fournier said.

Jessica Hamann of Rumford, a grieving mother, shared her experience at Friday’s ceremony. “Healing hasn’t been easy,” she said. “It’s work. It’s soul work and heart work, it’s messy and it’s hard. The hardest thing I have done is to save myself. Nobody could do it for me. I had to dig deep. I had to find a reason beyond my family for me. And if you’re healing. I see you and I’m so proud of you too!”

Katie Houghton of Peru, who lost a child and had one of the seven plaques added to the hospital wall, said, “These are plaques for the babies that have been lost…Everyone’s here to mount them up here. Every time there is a loss and you want a plaque, you can get one through the Colby Fund.”

Also at the ceremony was a display of some of the services the fund provides.

“We make sure the babies have blankets, hats and scrabble blocks,” Brule-Fournier said, “We have angel wings, gowns and people that will do a little memorial service for them, if that’s what they want. We have local funeral homes that work with us in support of these families that do it at no charge to us.”

Parents who have lost babies who were stillborn or infants press plaques Friday morning on a Rumford Hospital wall near a memorial garden honoring their memory. The River Valley area will hold its its first Walk to Remember on Sunday to support parents who have experienced loss from a miscarriage, a stillborn baby or infant death through the Colby Fund. Bruce Farrin/Rumford Falls Times

A banner honoring children who have died will be carried by their siblings at Sunday’s walk, she said.

Registered participants who raise or donate $50 will receive a commemorative shirt, however, no one needs to raise money to join families, friends, and loved ones for this event.

“This year, we are officially the new River Valley Chapter of the Colby Fund and we would love for you to join us,” Houghton said.

People can donate to the fund at a table near the memorial garden or go to St. Mary Health System’s website and click on Colby Fund.

Kevin Jamison, manager of Aubuchon Hardware in Rumford, which donated mulch for the garden, said the walk is “a labor of love for all involved.”

“My wife Kimberly and I are happy our daughter’s memorial is there,” he said.

“Katie (Houghton) was the linchpin of getting this project and the garden here in Rumford, so we can visit our babies’ remembrance areas here instead of going to CMMC in Lewiston. We are thankful to Katie and Jess (Hamann)!” he said.

Freelancer writer Lou Marin contributed to this story.