In July 2014 Don Sampey and Danny Abramowicz were approached by Marie, the caregiver for Don’s special needs child Alex. With tears in her eyes, she said that her daughter-in-law’s baby, Skylar, had just died and that they didn’t know how they were going to bury her. They didn’t have the money. Marie turned to Don and asked, “Would you make a casket in your workshop so we can bury my granddaughter?” What could Don say but “Of course, we’ll build a casket for your granddaughter.” In Don’s backyard workshop Don and a friend made the first casket by hand. Thus began All God’s Babies.
In the early years of All God’s Babies, caskets were assembled in the backyard workshops of volunteers from the Monday Night Disciples (MND), a men’s Catholic prayer group. As the AGB ministry grew, it needed more space and upgraded equipment to keep up with the burial needs for miscarried, stillborn, or early infant deaths. Fortunately, AGB has been able to move its casket-building from the backyard workshops of numerous volunteers into Our Lady of Divine Providence Parish’s former school building. Most of the casket materials are donated by local businesses, and the lining of the caskets and the baby burial garments are made from donated wedding dresses. Thus far, AGB has supplied caskets for over 600 of God’s babies and has also provided hundreds of burials in the All God’s Babies tomb in St. Patrick’s Cemetery #1 in New Orleans.
The men of AGB also offer, if requested, a graveside service including music and prayers for a baby’s interment at the All Gods Babies tomb, where guitarists and singers raise their voices in shared celebration of the gift of life, however short-lived. Or, if desired, the family can organize its own service at the AGB tomb.
In addition to the demand for caskets, the men of AGB have taken on another volunteer ministry, the constructing of SWINGS for special-needs children. In the past few years, the AGB men have brought a wealth of joy and peace to special-needs children and their families.
