__________________ SEAFORD _________________
HERALD
$1.00
DECEMBER 26, 2024 - JANUARY 1, 2025
What’s
INSIDE
Vol. 72 No. 53
HERALD PEOPLE oF THE YEAR Mary Miller & Chris white
From darkness, they found light
Seaford couple bring hope to grieving parents with Lola Jayne Foundation By CHARLES SHAW
Mary Miller and Chris White faced what no parent would ever want to go through on Dec. 28, 2022, when their 9-month-old daughter, Lola Jayne White, died from complications of Crohn’s disease, an autoimmune disorder that affects the digestive system. Miller, 35, and White, 36, of Seaford, left NYU Langone Hospital, in Mineola, with a memory box that contained a lock of Lola’s hair. Miller expected a call from a social worker, or perhaps a doctor, the next day, but there was none. “When we left the hospital, we just felt so alone,” Miller said. “We didn’t know where to turn.” Miller knew that she and her husband needed mental health resources hen we to deal with the trauma, but they didn’t left the know the protocol, and their insurance didn’t cover therapy. She added that hospital, we just mothers in their community who had felt so alone. had similar experiences reached out with contacts for group therapy. We didn't know As they worked through their grief, where to turn. Miller and White thought about other suffering parents like them who might MARY MIllER not have had the strength to seek help. Lola Jayne Foundation In March 2023, they created the Lola Jayne Foundation, a nonprofit that supports charitable organizations that offer those parents support and advance infant health care. “I knew that we had to be that beacon of light for other people, and try to help them as much as we can, because we were in that position,” Miller said. In less than two years, the foundation has raised scores of thousands of dollars, and is working to promote changes in how hospitals interact with families after the death of a loved one. Miller is its president and treasurer, and White its vice president. For their efforts to ensure that no parent who has lost a child feels alone, the Herald is proud to name Miller and White its 2024 People of the Year. According to White, the Lola Jayne Foundation’s goal is to raise as much money as possible to fund grants for other community-based nonprofits that work with grieving parents. They have hosted two major fundraising events the past two Septembers, at Westbury Manor, which have collected over $100,000, and have given out several grants. The first one went to Don’t Toss the Bouquet, a floral preservation service in Patchogue, which has an Angel Baby program for grieving mothers. The foundation also presented a grant
W
Nassau County unveils a new drone technology. Page 4
Blazers have their sights set on All-Star tournament. Page 5
For BrEAKING NEWS go to liherald.com
last year to the Center for Hope at Cohen Children’s Medical Center, in New Hyde Park, a program that offers group therapy resources for parents who have lost a child. At their most recent September fundraiser, White, a Nassau County police officer, and Miller, a stay-at-home mother of a 10-month-old daughter named Lucy, raised roughly $50,000, which was given as a grant to Luke’s Purpose in Commack, a nonprofit that provides financial assistance to families that have lost a child, whether to help cover the costs of funerals, burials and mental health counseling. “People forget that the mortgage still needs to be paid, bills still need to be paid, funerals still need to be paid for, and bills really start to add up,” White said. “So we thought that would be a great resource, to give them a grant.” According to Ashley Meyveci, director and president of Luke’s Purpose, it was established after her 2-year-old son, Luke, died in October 2022. Meyveci said she knew Miller and
Continued on page 2 Courtesy Chris White
Chris White, Mary Miller and their daughter, Lola, who died on Dec. 28, 2022, at 9 months old. As they dealt with their grief, Miller and White founded the Lola Jayne Foundation, which has provided funding to charities that offer resources to grieving parents.