Butterfly Angels: The McKinley Anne Foundation
Butterfly Angels is an organization started by a local Appalachia family who went through a significant grieving period over the loss of their infant daughter, McKinley Anne.
Elizabeth Shultz, President of the foundation, co-founded Butterfly Angels: The McKinley Anne Foundation with her husband Robert in 2014 after the loss of their child.
The Story Behind Butterfly Angels
Elizabeth and Robert had two children and were expecting their third child, McKinley. “We lost our daughter very unexpectedly,” Elizabeth said. “I was in labor at term, and there was a complication during labor, and she was stillborn.” After the sudden loss of their daughter, they started the foundation in McKinley’s memory to help other families who have gone through what they went through.
“We help with funeral burial funds, and then we also do peer/clinical counseling for these families,” Elizabeth said. “It always gets worse before it gets better, so we do a monthly grief share meeting in our office, and we do a couple different remembrance events during the year that families come to and participate in.”
To read McKinley’s full story click here.
The Meaning of Butterfly Angels
It was time for Elizabeth and Robert to head home from the hospital. They started their journey home without their newborn.
“Our oldest daughter wanted to know where the baby was because she thought we were bringing home baby sister,” Elizabeth explained. “We had to tell her that McKinley wasn’t coming home. She was four at the time, so we tried to make it more of a magical story. We told her that she was born with wings and she flew to Heaven as soon as she was born.”
Her daughter then asked if her baby sister had butterfly wings and when Elizabeth told her ‘yes’ she started calling her sister a butterfly angel.
How Butterfly Angels Helps Others
Stop by Giant Eagle on Sugar Run Road, South Side Deli in Waynesburg, or the Butterfly Angels House of Hope for event tickets.
Butterfly Angels House of Hope is located at 280 Mt. Morris Road in Mt. Morris, Pennsylvania.
Christmas at the Barn Event
Those who will be near Waynesburg, Pennsylvania or feel compassionate about the reason behind Butterfly Angels are encouraged to attend their upcoming event. They will be hosting Christmas at the Barn on Saturday, November 17.
Christmas at the Barn will take place at the Valley View Farm Venue, located at 108 Orndorff Road in Waynesburg from 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Christy and Corbly Orndorff own the farm and agreed to host this annual event for the second time this year. Butterfly Angels is near and dear to their family.
Stop by Giant Eagle on Sugar Run Road, South Side Deli in Waynesburg, or the Butterfly Angels House of Hope for event tickets.
Butterfly Angels House of Hope is located at 280 Mt. Morris Road in Mt. Morris, Pennsylvania.
Chinese Auction
Raffle tickets for the Chinese Auction are $10. For those who purchase a raffle ticket, this will also grant admission into the craft show. Otherwise, for those who do not wish to participate in the raffle can pay the $3 admission fee at the door instead.
“The Chinese Auction is a table full of different prizes,” Elizabeth said. “Each prize has a little container/bag next to it, and you can buy raffle tickets for it. You can take your ticket and pick which prize you want to win.”
Instead of the traditional raffle, where tickets are put in for one single drawing, this type of auction allows individuals to pick which prizes they want to win, and drop their tickets off in different prize containers/bags.
Prizes will be awarded every 15 minutes between 11:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. the day of the event. Winners do NOT have to be present to win.
This year, the goal for Butterfly Angels is to sell 2,000 tickets.
There will be plenty other fun and exciting events taking place throughout the day for all to enjoy.
Event activities:
- Craft and Vendor Show
- Concessions for food
- Live Christmas Carols, courtesy of Bella Vocce Group
- Horse-drawn carriage rides
- Sleigh rides and special appearances by Santa and Mrs. Claus (of course for a Christmas event!)
- Prize Bash raffle
Special Thanks
Elizabeth is grateful for the support Butterfly Angels received at last year’s event. The Orndorff’s graciously offered their barn to host the yearly event. She also would like to recognize local charter company, Fox Charter Services. Last year, owners Kay and Sam Fox offered two FREE shuttles for the day’s event.
“We wouldn’t be able to do this without them,” Elizabeth said.
Last year, the event was packed, and overflow traffic parked down the street about a mile away. Fox Charter Services shuttled people to and from the event throughout the day free of charge.
Resources
The Butterfly Angels office is located in Mount Morris, Pennsylvania, but they serve areas primarily around Waynesburg including Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Morgantown, West Virginia.
For more information about the foundation or upcoming event, contact Butterfly Angels:
- Call Elizabeth: 724-986-1874
- Email: [email protected]
- Visit the Butterfly Angels location
- Private message on Facebook
Those interested in services but are not local, contact Butterfly Angels, as they can send you resources.
Let the legacy of the children lost carry on as the Shultz family has done for McKinley.
“I have two older children,” Elizabeth said. “I can do things for them every day. There are things that I want to do for her that I can’t tangibly do like I can for my other two, so this is my way of doing something for her, creating memories for her and a legacy for her.”
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