Our daughter Lael was born October 24, 2008, and passed away June 21, 2009, from a rare disease called Pompe’s. She was our first child and filled our lives with so much joy. She now has 2 younger brothers, Simeon (7) and Solomon (3). We as a family hope to keep her memory alive and bless other people in her honor.
Losing Lael was the most painful experience of our lives. One of our main goals since her death has been to keep her name and memory alive and also to try to help others who are facing childhood illness or child loss. Because of this, we established a fund at the Sioux Falls Community Foundation called the Lael Seruyange Family Endowment. Through it we have been able to give to several organizations that have helped us in our time of greatest need.
Some of these organizations are:
The Ronald McDonald House
https://www.rmhc.org
A place for ill children and their families to stay when undergoing medical treatment. We were blessed to be able to stay at the Rochester RMH and have given to both them and the facility near Avera McKennan.
Nazarene Well House
http://nazwellhouse.com
A home for people to stay when receiving care at the Mayo Clinic. Most of our visits to Rochester were only a few days and the waiting list for the RMH is typically fairly long, so they were gracious enough to open their doors to us and our family several times. We were blessed by their love, concern, and prayers.
Faith’s Lodge
https://faithslodge.org
A retreat center in Wisconsin for families who are experiencing the serious illness or death of a child. We spent a week here about 4 months after Lael passed away and consider it to be one of the most important steps in our healing process. We met 8 other couples who had lost an infant and many of them remain good friends to this day.
The Compassionate Friends of Sioux Falls
http://www.compassionatesf.org
Our local chapter, part of a national organization, that provides support and resources for those who have lost a child at any age from any cause.
Avera McKennan Foundation
https://www.avera.org/support/mckennan-foundation
The foundation at Kristin’s workplace who supported us after Lael’s death. We have given to them since in support of patients in the children’s hospital.