McKenzie's Rays of Sunshine
New Orleans Area · Gretna, Louisiana
Rays of Hope for Every Family Who Has Loved and Lost
Our Mission
McKenzie's Rays of Sunshine exists to bring comfort, dignity, and hope to families navigating the devastating loss of a child by providing memory-making resources, gathering families together in healing ceremonies, and connecting grieving parents with the support they need to find light again.
Our Programs
Each program is designed with love, to honor your child and support your family.
Each year we gather families together for a butterfly release ceremony, a beautiful and healing moment of remembrance where every child's name is spoken aloud and every parent's love takes flight into the open sky.
No family should grieve alone. We connect parents and siblings with trusted grief counselors, pastoral support, and community groups throughout the greater New Orleans metro area.
Stories of Hope
In the words of the families and friends we've been honored to walk beside.
McKenzie's Story
"She was loved before she arrived, and she will be loved forever."
When we learned that McKenzie would not live a long life, there were so many things we grieved. Among them was something that might sound small: she would never live to see the sun.
In her final days, friends gathered with our family for her celebration of life in the NICU. Our friends brought a sun-shaped balloon, a simple and tender gesture that symbolically allowed McKenzie to see the sun.
The many acts of kindness that people showed us in those moments, the memory-making keepsakes that others lovingly donated for us to treasure, and the quiet gestures of love from friends and from people we had never met, are what inspired McKenzie's Rays of Sunshine. Though her life was brief, McKenzie now brings sunshine to other families in their darkest moments, carrying her light forward to every family who has loved and lost.
IRS-Recognized Nonprofit
501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt Organization · EIN 41-3375360Your Trust Means Everything
McKenzie's Rays of Sunshine is a fully recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, approved by the Internal Revenue Service. Every dollar donated goes directly toward supporting families in their most vulnerable moments, because that is exactly what McKenzie's memory asks of us.
Your contribution is tax-deductible to the full extent permitted by law, and it carries the love of a family who knows exactly what you are going through. Thank you for helping us carry her light forward.