Faribault Fortunate to Have Organization Like IRIS
Faribault Daily News
July 7, 2012

Their goal when they started was modest enough: Help one person each year.
But in the 25 years since Diana Sundwall and some friends started Infants Remembered In Silence, they've managed to do so much more. The Faribault-based organization, which has broadened its reach to include multiple nearby counties, has aided more than 90,000 people.

In the process, they've served as a testament to what hard work and a desire to help others can accomplish.
IRIS focuses on offering support and aid to those whose lives have been impacted by a miscarriage or the death of an infant. The cause is not necessarily a high-profile one, but that only makes IRIS's work that much more critical. Losing one's child, after all, is an almost unimaginably painful tragedy to endure. Knowing that Faribault and Rice County has such generous and dedicated volunteers (IRIS is a nonprofit with only two paid staff) is comforting and something to take pride in.

In a twist of fate, IRIS is celebrating 25 years at roughly the same time the organization is moving into a new home. The move was made out of necessity, forced after the group's previous office space flooded on Feb. 28.

It was that evening, as water filled the office basement, that volunteers began arriving and stowing IRIS's belongings to safety - an example of a close-knit community showing support for those in their time of need.

That's what IRIS does for others on a daily basis. Here's hoping the group's next 25 years are as successful as its first 25.