Press Release: Two Years After Losing Her Son, Baton Rouge Mother Builds Support for Families Facing Child Loss

Baton Rouge, LA – When Kathryn Juneau and James Maddi’s 14-month-old son, Mitchell, drowned on October 16, 2024, their family entered a world no parent expects to navigate.

In the days following Mitchell’s death, family, friends, medical professionals and members of the community surrounded the Juneau family with compassion. But as the weeks and months passed, Kathyrn and James began to recognize a gap between the support families receive immediately after a child dies and what they need as grief continues.

Mitchell’s age also revealed another gap. The Juneau-Maddi’s found that some existing child-loss resources no longer serve families after a child reaches 13 months of age. They wanted to help ensure that families like theirs had somewhere to turn.

That realization became the foundation for The Orange Glow Project, a Louisiana nonprofit founded by Kathryn and James and rooted in the Juneau family’s experience of learning to carry an unimaginable loss. The organization walks alongside families following the death of a child, providing practical support, trusted resources and compassion connection throughout their grief.

On October 16, the second anniversary of Mitchell’s death, The Orange Glow Project will launch its Founding Campaign with a goal of raising $50,000 to expand yearlong support for grieving families and strengthen grief-response training and resources in schools.

“When a child dies, a family’s life is divided into a before and an after,” Juneau said. “The world around them keeps turning. Morning comes, people return to their routines and time continues moving forward, but their own world can remain frozen in the moment their child died. The Orange Glow Project exists in that space: beside families learning how to live in a life they never chose.”

In 2024, 96 children ages 1 through 18 died in Ascension, East Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Livingston and Tangipahoa parishes, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s WONDER database. An average of approximately 92 children died annually across those parishes from 2018 through 2024.

Each death represents a family changed forever. The impact can extend to siblings, grandparents, friends, classmates, teachers and the broader community, with grief continuing long after the funeral and the initial outpouring of support.

The Orange Glow Project currently provides thoughtfully curated grief care packages and continued touchpoints for families for one year following the death of a child. Families grieving the death of a child from 13 months and one day through age 18 may receive support at no cost in the five-parish service area, with sponsorship opportunities available beyond the region.

The organization received federal 501(c)(3) approval in May 2026 and is building referral relationships with hospitals, funeral homes, schools and community organizations. Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital has received referral materials to help connect families with the organization.

For Juneau, the work grew from what she wishes had been available to her own family.

“I cannot change what happened to our family, but I can help create what I wish had been waiting for us: a place where families feel seen, where their child’s life is honored and remembered and where support remains long after the first few days have passed,” Juneau said.

The organization’s vision extends beyond care packages. The Orange Glow Project is building a continuum of support that includes assistance with funeral and medical costs, therapeutic assistance, grief-informed support in schools and resources to help communities respond to child loss without timelines, judgment or pressure to move on.

“Grief doesn’t stop when a child walks into school,” Juneau said. “As children grow, they understand and experience a death in new ways, which is why schools need practical tools and a plan that extends beyond the initial crisis.”

The Founding Campaign will help The Orange Glow Project build that continuum of care, including yearlong family support and grief-response training and resources for schools.

Approximately $500 can help support one family with a year of grief care packages and continued touchpoints. Approximately $3,500 can help equip one school or strengthen direct family care.

“Our $50,000 founding goal is about turning compassion into consistent care,” Juneau said. “Grief does not follow a schedule. It shows up on birthdays, holidays, ordinary Tuesdays and years later. Our support has to be willing to stay, too.”

While the project’s name honors Mitchell’s memory, it has grown into a symbol for every family navigating the loss of a child.

“Mitchell’s love began this mission, but the community we build together is what will sustain it,” Juneau said. “The Orange Glow Project is not about carrying Mitchell’s memory forward. It is about making space for every child’s light and ensuring every family knows that their child’s life matters just as deeply.”

The Orange Glow Project’s Founding Campaign launches October 16. To support the campaign, you can make a donation, sponsor a family or school, share the campaign or help connect a grieving family with the organization.

For more information or to support the Founding Campaign, visit theorangelowproject.org.