Babies Gone Too Soon will hold a candle lighting and memorial ceremony at Dodgeville United Methodist Church Thursday, Oct. 15 at 6:30 p.m. 

The worldwide “wave of light” candle-lighting will be at 7 p.m.

Babies Gone Too Soon was founded in April 2013 to provide support and resources to families in southwest Wisconsin who have experienced pregnancy or infant loss. According to the organization, one in four pregnancies ends in a loss through miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, or stillbirth, an equivalent of approximately 2,000 pregnancies are lost a day in the U.S., and approximately 700,000 pregnancies are lost every year.

To increase awareness, in 1988, President Ronald Reagan declared the month of October as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. In 2006, Robyn Bear enlisted the help of people from all 50 states to create a national day to help support families, and Oct. 15 became the National Day for Pregnancy and Infant Loss awareness.

The organization established a local support group, donated two Cuddle Cot cooling systems, provided 500 miscarriage packets to local clinics, supports ongoing research through the Wisconsin Stillbirth Services, sends a grieving family to Faith’s Lodge, provides 25 memorial boxes to local hospitals, provides health care grief and loss training to local nurses, and established the Angel Fund for funeral expenses.