09/02/2026
Why the Kathryn Leigh Thurgaland Foundation exists.
After Kayleigh died, our world stopped.
There were things that had to be done (writing an obituary for your baby), decisions that had to be made (which urn or casket should we choose), and ordinary everyday needs that didn’t stop just because we were grieving. But in those first days, even the simplest things could feel like too much.
And then people showed up.
Friends, family and members of our community stepped in. They brought food. They helped with things we weren’t thinking about. They took care of small, practical needs so that we didn’t have to.
At the time, those acts may have seemed simple.
They weren’t.
When you are living through an unimaginable loss, having someone quietly say, “We’ve got this,” can mean more than they may ever know.
That experience stayed with us.
It taught us that when someone is grieving, support doesn’t always have to come in the form of the perfect words. Sometimes it looks like a meal at the door, one less decision to make, or someone noticing a need and simply taking care of it.
That experience became part of the heart behind the Kathryn Leigh Thurgaland Foundation.
Because when another family faces devastating loss, we want them to feel what we felt in those first days:
People are here.
People care.
And someone is going to help carry the everyday things for a while.
