On April 17th, 2020, Cribs for Kids lost a cherished member of our staff to COVID-19. Barbara Clemons spent the last 14 years of her life as our Director of Product Development, devoted to our mission of helping every baby sleep safer. Tragically, Barb’s mother passed away due to COVID-19 one week before she did. The unimaginable loss of these two strong women has been difficult to navigate. We continue to mind our mission and move forward because we know that Barb would have wanted us to carry on.
In the weeks leading up to her hospitalization, as the nation began to enter quarantine and unemployment rates began to skyrocket, Barb began to sound the alarm as it pertained to infant mortality rates. She knew that as more families fell into dire straits due to the pandemic, their ability to afford a safe sleep environment for their infants would be compromised. We created the At Home Program, an initiative to provide online safe sleep education and ship cribs directly to family’s homes, to address the new normal we are all experiencing.
Barb lived in New Castle, PA., and traveled to Pittsburgh to work at our headquarters. She was so proud of the work we did through our network of partners nationwide and was especially proud to serve our local families. We have established the Barbara Jean Clemons Memorial fund to provide our signature Cribette, designed by Barb, to families in need across Western Pennsylvania through our Cribs for Kids At Home Program.
Please consider donating to provide a Cribette to a family in Barb’s name. For every $70.00 raised, a family in need will receive a Cribette and access to online safe sleep education. With this fund, Barb will continue to fulfill her mission of helping every baby sleep safer.