USA

Putting SIDS to Sleep

What impressed the Redwood Falls Lions Club most about Becky Bruns was her willingness to give back to the community through education on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome [SIDS] after the tragic loss of her son.

What impressed Becky about Minnesota’s Redwood Lions was “their willingness to help in every way possible, without question and with smiles on their faces.

“They were there,” she says.

Bruns and her husband, Shaun, of Redwood Falls, started the non-profit “Dominick Bruns Memorial Fund” [dominickbrunsmemorial.com] in 2008 after the loss of their son, Dominick, to SIDS. Their mission is to prevent SIDS and rebreathing through the education of new parents and families in their area; to better the lives of infants, children, and families through community involvement, and to preserve the memory and legacy of their son.

Becky Bruns, the mother of three, a farmer, and a small business owner, says Dominick did not have a chance to create his own legacy, so the family started one for him.

Along with education, she oversees the distribution of HALO SleepSacks, wearable swaddling blankets that have been proven to reduce the risk of future SIDS occurrences.

Redwood Falls Lions get involved by helping with the packing of SleepSacks for shipment. Becky Bruns and her mother bring about 1,000 SleepSacks to the Redwood Falls American Legion Hall about an hour before the Lions’ evening meeting. Lions set up tables in an assembly-line fashion, including information on the organization and preventing SIDS, and various colors and designs of the sacks. They are meant for distribution to hospitals, daycares, health centers, and orphanages. Then two tables of Lions armed with scissors, tape, and boxes compete to see which table can effectively pack the most.

More than 3,000 packages have already been boxed by the Lions, and there will be more.

Bruns had previously done the work with family members and volunteers over a period of several weeks, but the Lions enjoyed it so much they asked if they could help again.

Club president Cindy LaBrie says, “We’ve asked Becky to keep us on the schedule for future shipments as it’s a project we’d like to continue doing in the years ahead.”