Charlotte nonprofit honors grieving mothers

A Charlotte nonprofit aims to deliver flowers and gifts to 700 mothers who have lost a child ahead of Mother's Day.

Why it matters: Mother's Day can be especially painful for bereaved mothers, and the effort aims to show that their children are remembered, Watch Love Grow founder Ashley Manning tells Axios.

How it works: Leading up to Mother's Day on Sunday, May 10, Manning's nonprofit Watch Love Grow and several volunteers will package and deliver gifts for bereaved mothers in the Charlotte area.

A Mother's Love, as the initiative is called, has 562 nominations as of Friday morning. Recipients can be nominated here.

The fundraising target is $70,000. More than $57,000 has been raised as of Thursday.

Context: The project grew out of Manning's initial Valentine's Day Widow Outreach Project in 2021, which continues to this day.

This is the organization's second year recognizing mothers. They're more than doubling last year's 300 recipients.

Flashback: When Manning launched the Valentine's Day project more than five years ago, someone at the flower distributor asked her what she was going to do for Mother's Day.

The woman shared with Manning that she had lost her daughter and how difficult it had been. Manning says that interaction planted the seed for expanding beyond Valentine's Day.

Watch Love Grow founder Ashley Manning. Photo: Cheyenne Schultz Photography/courtesy of Watch Love Grow

By the numbers: Providing flowers to widows on Valentine's Day started with around 125 people in Charlotte. This year, the program reached 2,000 people.

It now includes Wake Forest, Winston-Salem, Columbia and Lancaster, in addition to Charlotte.

The bottom line: "My hope is that we all consider to search out those who are hurting and try to just show them that they are seen and they are not forgotten," Manning tells Axios.

Go deeper: Volunteer with Watch Love Grow