Jenny’s Light is a not-for-profit organization created by the families of Jennifer Gibbs Bankston and her son Graham in response to a heart-wrenching and tragic story dealing with postpartum depression.
When Jenny found out in March that she was pregnant she seemed very happy, and all their friends and family were so excited too! Unfortunately, Jenny had a difficult pregnancy and was sick for most of the first seven months, and also developed Bell’s palsy that lasted a couple of months. As her due date approached, we made plans to come and stay for the first three weeks after Graham’s birth. On Nov. 1st, 2007, Graham Gibbs Bankston was born at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Birmingham. Everybody was so proud and excited.
Jenny was a real champ during delivery, but she struggled a bit with nursing and was reluctant to take Graham from the house for the first few weeks. She was also adjusting to not working, not getting much sleep, and having to care for her newborn. Other than that, things seemed normal and Graham got easier to care for as the weeks went by.
Then, out of the blue, on Dec. 19th, 2007, Jenny purchased a gun at a sporting goods store in Birmingham and at about 7:00 pm, she went to the backyard and took Graham’s life and then her own.
We are so devastated and shocked by this tragedy that it was a real struggle to write this story. We hope that somehow it might inspire new mothers to seek help and treatment before something like this happens to them. We also want to thank our son Randy, Brian (Becky’s husband) and Chip for their help and support as we try to return some normalcy to our lives.
We are left with many great memories and the chance to help other families avoid having to go through what we are. With your help, Jenny’s Light can make a difference.
This article in The Birmingham News mentioned that Jenny was having trouble with breastfeeding, had a lack of sleep, had quit her career, and was attempting to adjust to being a stay-at-home mother. As I read her story, I couldn’t help but weep as I remembered my own journey of PPD after Drew’s birth. I struggled with those very same issues in my own journey of depression and truly, there but for the grace of God go I.
The mission of Jenny’s Light is to improve detection and treatment of all perinatal mood disorders such as postpartum depression by funding continuing education, research and supportive efforts. We strive to shed light on these illnesses to help mothers, children, and families around the world. By expanding access to care and support for new mothers through our community of volunteers, physicians, educators and legislators, we will save lives.
The first large fundraiser for Jenny’s Light was held recently and over $50,000 was raised. I highly encourage you all to read the story, learn about PPD, and contribute if you can.
My first thought was to choose this charity for Blogathon 2008. However, Blogathon 2008 (where you blog for 24 hours for your chosen charity) has been cancelled. Thankfully, Day of Blogs has been organized as a charity blogging event as an alterna-thon to Blogathon (try to say that three times fast).
On July 26, I will be jumping on the blogging for charity bandwagon. I’ll be posting at least once an hour every 30 minutes for 24 hours (oh my word!) and I’ll have a donate button on my site where you can donate funds that will go straight to Jenny’s Light, my chosen charity. Please ponder between now and July 26 if you could donate just a small bit (I’ll be saving our change too!) towards this charity. And look forward to my day of a gazillion blog posts.
May the God of all love, wisdom, peace, and comfort heal the hearts hurt by the tragedies of postpartum depression.
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[I do not have the Blogathon posts I wrote for the charity any longer.]