An Angel Gown is a beautiful garment made using donated wedding dresses in which a bereaved mother buries her child, this charity is helping SA families.
There is no greater loss than that of a child, it rocks entire families to the core. They say no parent should ever have to bury a child and yet, many do. One charity is working to make the heartbreaking process a little more beautiful for the families struck by this kind of loss.
TAGI is an Angel Gown charity that works in collaboration with various hospitals and organisations to provide grieving families with beautiful gowns in which to bury their young loved ones. The Angel Gowns are made from dresses donated by brides.
Eric Elronde, owner and founder of couturiers Erikr House saw a Facebook post in 2017 that inspired him to start this project in South Africa. We recently saw the very same post being circulated and knew there was something truly beautiful about this gift. Eric’s friend shared the post and asked if anyone was able to create Angel Gowns using her wedding dress. He reached out and offered to create the Angel Gowns for her.
He knew that this was something important and spent every free moment over the next few months, working on the Angel Gowns.
Nearly a year ago to this day, Eric and his husband travelled to his hometown to deliver the Angel Gowns to the local hospital where his friend worked. Since then, people have been inspired by his heartwarming work and have reached out to donate their own unused evening gowns and wedding dresses.
“The Angel Gown Initiative has taken on a life of its own, having multiple ambassadors, sponsors, volunteers, collection points across 3 provinces and a growing number of hospitals that we donate to on a regular basis.”
Eric identified 4 sizes, Micro, Tiny, Preemie and Newborn. Every Angel Gown is carefully wrapped up, a hand-written card to the family receiving the gown is placed inside and the package is hand-delivered with the utmost care.
A number of Mediclinic, Netcare and provincial hospitals are beneficiaries.
Not only does Eric accept dresses as donations, he also welcomes fabrics, lace and trims. There has been some call for more traditional fabrics as well because South Africa is so diverse in cultures. You can find full details on how to assist here.
To date, TAGI is the only organisation creating and donating Angel Gowns in South Africa. If you wish to contribute in any way, you can get in contact with Eric at info@tagi.co.za.
Other similar initiatives are the Big Hearts for Tiny Feet Initiative and the Angel Box Initiative.
Charities like these help bring peace during heartbreaking times. Not only do they help the grieving, the offer an opportunity for someone to do an unmeasurable amount of good just by donating a dress. This small initiative is changing so many lives.
Good day, Jow do I join yhis group.