Today we’d like to introduce you to Meagan Wizceb.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My husband Mike and I lost our first child, Wyatt, when I was 36w 4d pregnant. We had no warning, his heartbeat was just no longer there. Within 24 hours, I gave birth to Wyatt the morning of March 3, 2017. Having never experienced something like this before, we were unsure of what would happen next.
We knew we wanted to send Wyatt’s body to autopsy, but the thought of having to say goodbye to our son so soon was heartbreaking. We then learned that we would have the opportunity to keep Wyatt with us for our three-day stay in the hospital while keeping his body preserved. A Cuddlecot is a body cooling device Delnor Hospital had available for our use, and I truly believe it helped us begin the grieving process in the best way possible.
After leaving the hospital, I learned more about Cuddlecots, only to find that 90% of hospitals in the United States don’t have one! I was saddened by the thought that most families did not get to spend that incredibly important time with their child after their loss. At this point, we decided to create a fundraiser in Wyatt’s name that we would use to raise funds to purchase a Cuddlecot.
Shortly after returning home, another gift showed up at our doorstep, a weighted teddy bear that was Wyatt’s exact birth weight, 6lb 5oz. Our new Wyatt Bear was gifted to us through HEALing Embrace, a nonprofit organization out of Omaha, Nebraska whose purpose is to spread pregnancy and infant loss awareness as well as provide financial and emotional support for families who have suffered the loss of a baby.
Experiencing the loss of our baby was traumatizing and life-altering, but our Wyatt Bear aided in the healing process because he helped to fill the emptiness I felt in my arms and on my chest where my son should be resting. At this point, we decided to also raise money for HEALing Embrace so they can continue to support families who so desperately need this comfort.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
As fundraising is something that is completely new to my husband and I, we have set no expectations. We started small by creating a Facebook page and Youcaring.com account that told our story. We then developed our website (with the help of a friend) and our first fundraiser, “Wyatt’s Wheels”, an activity that spreads awareness of our cause.
Wyatt’s Wheels is a painted Cozy Coupe toy that would be passed around neighborhoods, prompting families to visit www.wishesforwyatt.com, read our story and donate. And our community took that idea and ran with it! We were astonished by the excitement it brought to the Elburn and St. Charles area!
From that success, four more cars were donated and we created the Wyatt’s Wheels Fleet! We were able to begin sending Wyatt’s Wheels to families in different states (Wisconsin, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Indiana so far), they have visited homes, businesses, local events, and sports competitions! Here, we met with our first real struggle; tracking Wyatt’s Wheels because they get passed around so quickly (but that means they are raising awareness and money, so I’m not complaining)!
With so many people learning our story, it might seem that one obstacle we’d have to deal with is having to relive our experience over and over. But in actuality, that is one of the perks. As any mom would agree, getting to talk about her kids is something she lives for, and for me, it’s no different. I only had my pregnancy and those first few days in the hospital to hold my beautiful boy, so getting to share his story with the world, and say his name every day is extremely healing.
All in all, Wishes For Wyatt has helped my husband and I focus on the positive in the world, rather than the challenges we are facing on a daily basis.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Wishes For Wyatt story. Tell us more about the business.
Wishes For Wyatt’s mission is to help others who have suffered through the devastating loss of a child due to miscarriage, stillbirth or infant death. Our purpose is to raise money in order to purchase and donate Cuddlecots to hospitals in need, as well as donate funds to HEALing Embrace so they can continue their work in providing “Birth” day Bears and financial support to loss families.
We are able to provide this aid because of the varying fundraisers we come up with throughout the year. Since we knew Wyatt’s Wheels would be more of an ongoing summertime fundraiser, we wanted to create a winter event as well. The first annual Wyatt’s Winter Games was held on December 3, 2017, in St. Charles. We are extremely proud of the success of our first big event! We had over 150 attendees enjoy food, games and raffle prizes! In one day we raised $6,000, which brought our fundraising grand total to over $15,000 since “opening our doors” in July!
Our hope is that our creativity, dedication and personal touch that we put into each fundraiser will help us continue to grow and spread awareness of our incredibly important causes.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
My husband and I joke that since getting married in 2014, we have had terrible luck. On our honeymoon, I was bitten by a virus-infected mosquito, which left me sick for the first three months of our marriage. Throughout the next year, we struggled to get pregnant, and then the joy of welcoming our first child into the world was shattered when we learned of his death.
However, since starting our work on Wishes For Wyatt. we both agree we are incredibly lucky to have the family, friends, and community that we do! So many people have stepped up to show their support, share their own stories and volunteer their time whenever they can.
In the midst of planning for Wyatt’s Winter Games, a local non-profit called Random Acts Matter nominated us to have all of our food and beverages donated by businesses in our area. This was a life-saver! It allowed us to not only save money because we didn’t have to purchase the food ourselves, but it also helped us raise awareness throughout of our cause throughout the community.
Luck struck again when another small business, called Our Brave Faces, blessed us with the creation of “Brave” shirts in honor of Wyatt. Fifty percent of the proceeds from the sales of all “Brave” apparel comes directly to Wishes For Wyatt! They’ve already helped us raise over $500!
We continue to be amazed at the generosity of our community, and hope that our luck has changed for the better!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.WishesForWyatt.com
- Instagram: @wishesforwyatt
- Facebook: @wishesforwyatt1
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