Graco and DC Metro Moms Donate 3 Car Seats to Fallen Officer’s Widow Expecting Triplets
It was my pleasure, on behalf of Graco and DC Metro Moms, to give the Montgomery County Police 3 brand new Graco car seats for Melissa Ayala, widow of Officer Hector Ayala, who died in the line of duty in April.
A Police Officer, who was also a dear friend of Hector Ayala, came to my home to pick them up and he also gave me some information to tell everyone in our community and beyond.
Melissa is doing as well as can be expected, and will most likely give birth this week. She and the babies are healthy, although she is in pain and discomfort (but we all know as mothers, that being pregnant with triplets cannot be easy).
I also learned that the gender of the babies is unknown, it’s been too hard to tell…
Yeah, I know. I swallowed hard learning that. Not only is this woman giving birth to triplets IMMINENTLY- without her husband- she doesn’t know any of their genders…
The Officer added that she is receiving baby stuff right now but he worries,
“When they’re 6 months…”
“When they’re 1…”
“When they’re 2…”
Okay. So this is tough…
THIS IS WHAT WE CAN DO RIGHT NOW.
- Melissa already has a 14 month old son, so she does have some boy stuff.
SHE HAS NO GIRL STUFF OR CLOTHES. We’ll know this week if she needs any girl stuff. I’ll let you know.
- If you have any baby or toddler toys, accessories, clothes, etc. that you were planning to give away, please consider putting them away for now, and giving them to the Ayala family.
- Please leave a comment if you want to be informed and/or involved in helping with donations to Mrs. Ayala and her triplets, and her son. I will save everyone’s email and periodically ask for specific things that she needs. The Montgomery County Police are contacting me when she has a need for something.
Also, if you have any contacts or relationships with companies that may be willing to donate their products to the triplets, please leave a comment and let me know.
Thank you for your kind thoughts and prayers for the triplets, they have been passed on and it is a great comfort that the brand new car seats are ready for them. They will be safe when they are taken home from the hospital.
This all came to pass basically through tweets; our online community is strong. Let’s use our community to continue to help this mother.
Thank You for your kindness.
Give a Kid a Car Seat… and Travel Tips from Graco
Everybody needs a site to go to for car seat specs and traveling-with-kids tips.
The great folks at Graco have just launched such a site!
Go to Ready For The Road Ahead to get helpful information on car seats and safety tips.
And while you are there, sign up to join Graco’s car seat club- Ready.Safe.Go!
For every 10 people who sign up (this is free), Graco will donate a new car seat to organizations serving families in need!
C’mon people, spread the love… and a safe car seat for the little ones.