Love Cash Boxes
About Cash
Cash Waylon Coleman was born a perfectly healthy baby boy to Samantha Gattis and Hunter Coleman on April 24th, 2018. He was always smiling an hardly ever cried. He loved looking around and snuggling. His parents dreamed he would bring Mommy flowers, and go fishing or work on trucks with his Daddy. On June 6th, 2018 when Cash was 5 1/2 weeks old, he sadly passed away due to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS.) this death was very traumatic, sudden and completely changed the lives of the entire family. The family received no support from the emergency department staff, did not know where to go next and only 4 members of the family were given the opportunity to give a short goodbye.
After reflecting on this horrible situation, Cash's family knew they wanted to honor him and make a difference in the community as well as with other families in the same situation. Although every day is a struggle with such a great loss, they have done their best to bring honor to his memory. In 2019, they created a Facebook page where they share memories and donated school supplies and angel tree Christmas gifts in his name. They also hide rocks and Easter eggs around the community ever year with the hashtag #lovecash. They encourage others to do something kind in the month of April (his birthday) and post it on the Lovecash page. They hope to help his name and story to live on.
Love Cash Memory Boxes
Brittani Slocum, Cash's aunt and Janelle Martinez, the founder of Team Sam had the idea to create keepsake memory boxes that can be donated to local emergency departments for when a child passes away. The box will include a kit to do molds of the child's hands and feet, a locket to keep a lock of the child's hair, a devotional or book about grief, a personalized angel necklace and a folder with local resources and contact information. The resource folder will have information about local services, grief counseling as well as contact info for many online services and support groups locally and online. There are also services that the family may want such as photos with the child in the last moments and other memory items that they may want to purchase later such as a "Molly Bear." The resource folder will also have this contact info. The goal is to help families as much as possible in this heartbreaking time by giving them something to hold on to and remember their child, as well as providing resources for them to make things as easy as they can be, given the circumstance. Team Sam plans to create and donate 50 #lovecash boxes in 2020 to local ERs in the East Texas area.
