Middle School: Discipleship in Action

In October 2018, three HCS students presented a CuddleCot device to the NICU at St. Vincent Hospital. The students donated the device with the help of Linda Znachko, founder of the He Knows Your Name ministry, after Znachko spoke in chapel.

He Knows Your Name began in 2009, when Znachko, the mother of four HCS alumni, heard a news story about the body of a newborn baby found in a dumpster. Znachko decided this child deserved a proper burial, so she adopted, named, and buried the baby. Since then, Znachko has made great strides throughout Indianapolis, bringing dignity in death to newborn babies. She does this often by naming and burying abandoned babies, but also by providing support to parents of NICU or stillborn babies. In the last few years, Znachko has raised money to provide CuddleCots for local hospitals. A CuddleCot is a device that allows families to have more time to grieve and say goodbye to their child. These devices, though fairly common in the UK, are not widely used in the US.

CuddleCot

Znachko shared her heart for the ministry with the HCS students and explained the importance of bringing dignity to all people. After chapel, one middle school student, now freshman Zach Warrick, approached her, wanting to do something to help the ministry. Zach decided to raise money to buy a CuddleCot. With the help of middle school Discipleship Director Tia Cavanaugh-Goggans, Zach got with two friends and put together a plan.

The students presented their plan to the school’s administration, then got approval to sell MudLOVE bracelets to the student body to raise money. The bracelets they chose were made by MudLOVE, an Indiana-based organization that makes customizable ceramic bracelets. For every purchase, MudLOVE provides one week of clean water to the Central African Republic.“By selling these bracelets, not only were we helping children needing water, we were also helping these babies be remembered,” said Zach Warrick.

Students Caroline Curnutt, Zachary Warrick, and Molly Mullinix sold nearly 300 bracelets to raise money for a CuddleCot device.

The students earned quite a profit, a total of about $500. CuddleCots typically cost around $4,000, though, so the students knew their portion would not be enough to purchase one. However, Znachko had a few surprises up her sleeve. When she arrived at Heritage to receive the students’ donation, she brought with her several news stations and some representatives from St. Vincent Hospital. She announced that an anonymous donor had offered to pay the remaining balance in order to buy a CuddleCot and dedicate it to St. Vincent in the name of Heritage Christian School.

Fast-forward several months later, the three student organizers, the Heritage discipleship team, and Linda Znachko attended a dedication ceremony to officially present the CuddleCot to St. Vincent Women’s Hospital in Fishers.

“I’m so grateful for how these young people have inspired me,” Znachko said at the ceremony.

Linda Znachko, founder of He Knows Your Name Ministry, with freshman Zachary Warrick.