Family of pregnant MoDOT worker killed on the job holds baby shower for charity
By Julia Avery
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ST. LOUIS (KMOV) — Kaitlyn Anderson was 22 weeks pregnant when she was killed while working for MoDOT. She was striping Telegraph Road near I-255 when she and two others were struck by a car.
She was killed, along with her baby Jaxx and coworker James Brooks.
Anderson’s Aunt Tabatha Moore said they had already planned the baby shower for Kaitlyn. The gifts and decorations were reminders of what could have been.
“We already had the decorations, the cakes, the cupcakes, the hall all reserved and paid for,” Moore said. “We kind of started having that conversation right away about what are we going to do because that’s just kind of a knife in the wound at that time. So, she [Kaitlyn’s mom] said right away, lets do something to help people.”
They decided not to cancel the shower. Instead, they would use it to help struggling mothers.
On the same day the shower would have been, Saturday, Feb. 12, they will host a drive-thru donation event collecting new, unused baby items to be donated to mothers in need. It will happen between noon and 4:00 at 328 Andy Habsieger Street in Festus.
The baby shower drive-thru is just the beginning. To continue helping mothers, Anderson’s family created the Kait’s Love For Jaxx Foundation.
“We started the Kait’s Love for Jaxx Foundation which will be a 501(c)(3)[nonprofit]. We have submitted our application with the federal IRS,” Moore said.
The foundation has many parts. It will donate baby care items to mothers in need, deliver gift baskets to mothers who are grieving, and get pregnant women medical bracelets to wear. Moore said they wish Anderson would have been wearing a bracelet at the time of the crash.
“When the accident happened, paramedics didn’t know that Kaitlyn was pregnant,” Moore said. “The only people who would have known one had already passed and the other was unconscious so they didn’t know to check Jaxx in her belly.”
To learn more about the foundation, visit: kaitsloveforjaxx.org. To nominate someone to receive a donation from the foundation, visit: kaitsloveforjaxx.org/nominate-apply.
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