Deb Walker knew she had to do something after learning that mothers enduring a tragic stillbirth had nothing to dress their baby in.
Walker was on the internet at home in Chatham when she found an article about women in Australia transforming old wedding dresses into tiny "Angel Gowns."
"I'd never heard of such a thing, so I thought I'd do some research. I got reading some pretty heart-breaking stories," she says. "I didn't hear of anybody doing it [in the community], so I decided to give it a try and that's how it came about."
Since she started last year, Walker has made deliveries of Angel Gowns, and crocheted pockets and blankets for bereaved parents of a stillborn child to hospitals in Leamington, Windsor, Sarnia, London and most recently to the Foundation of the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance.
Every evening when she returns home from her day job, Walker gets to work on an Angel Gown, which typically takes a few nights to complete. With care and some crinoline, Walker can create between six to 12 Angel Gowns from one donated wedding dress.
"When [women] donate their gowns, I love hearing their stories about their dress or their wedding," says Walker. "I take a picture of their gown and then I try to make a gown from their dress to look like their wedding gown, and they get quite excited to see the end result."
A year and more than 200 Angel Gowns later, Walker says the reason she does it is simple.
"I've always loved wedding gowns, and working with them, the material and how beautiful they are," Walker says. "I knew the little babies needed something, and it just broke my heart to know they had nothing to put the tiny ones in, because you just cannot buy anything small enough. So that's when I thought I have to do this. I want to help."
Walker says she's not in need of a wedding dress at this time, but you can visit her Facebook page to find out when she's ready to accept more donations.
