Dominique Griffin's living room in her San Diego house is filled with donations: coffee cups, sleeping masks, slippers, gift cards, journals, dry shampoo, hats, Bose speakers, Stanley cups, cozy blankets and much more.
Griffin is putting all the donations into gift bags that will be handed out on Mother's Day to moms of kids who are battling cancer at Rady Children's Hospital.
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WATCH HERE"While we know the only gift they want is for their child to be healed, we are hoping that we can provide some source of comfort to them while they are inpatient with their child," Griffin said.
Having a child with cancer is unfortunately something Griffin knows all too well.
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SIGN UP "This is near and dear to my heart because I was that mom inpatient with my child who was battling cancer,” she said. “It is the darkest of times, so dark. It is almost a time of hopelessness."
Griffin's daughter, Laken, was diagnosed with cancer when she was 6 months old. Thankfully, Laken is now a healthy and happy teenager, but the ordeal left a mark on Griffin.
When she was in the hospital as young mom, Griffin remembers thinking, "There is something I need to do for those moms once we get on the other side of this. I’m going to turn around and help those in need. There's a saying, 'I love you can't walk through the fire without turning around with buckets of water for those who are still in the flames.'"
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Eventually, she founded Barriers to Blessings and began making gift bags for those moms who are dealing with so much on their special day.
"It is the most heartbreaking time to be in hospital," she said. "When you’re so grateful to be a mom on Mother's Day, and the gift you’ve received, to have a child, and you're there now fighting to have them live this life. Fighting with their child for their life is the biggest battle they will ever face."
Each item in the gift bags is not just materialistic. It has a purpose for the moms who are going through this.
"There are journals, so they can journal out their emotions and get out what holding inside," Griffin said. "Book cards that have emotional support and affirmation. There are hats. Sometimes those tears flow so freely and you want to just throw on a hat and not want others to see tears come out of you. I've been there many times inpatient and trying to hide my tears from my kids and being that strong person to try and get it together."
It turns out these little bags can make a big difference to the moms who receive them. Griffin gets emotional when remembering the response from one mother.
"This one almost brought tears to my eyes because I could step back and feel where she was at this moment," Griffin said. "Her son was just diagnosed with brain cancer. She was inpatient on Mother's Day, and the gift bag was a source of light and happiness. And in a brief moment, that brought joy to her. She was so grateful. She even offered to donate the next year. It was pretty incredible."
So each gift bag comes from a place of understanding, compassion and love. Each bag also comes with a note card with the following inscription:
"Happy Mother's Day. We want you to know you are cherished, you are loved, you are prayed for, you are a warrior mom.”
Barriers to Blessings receives most of its donations via an Amazon gift registry. It's still in need of a few donations to complete this year's gift bags.
