Meet the Baby Steps Race Committee

My name is Heather Green. I am responsible for making the memorial signs each year for the Baby Steps Memorial Run. I first heard of Baby Steps in 2016. I had two precious boys under the age of 2 but was still working through a lot of my grief of losing my first two sons. My son Parker was stillborn at 19 weeks in 2011. Nine months later, I lost my second son, Noah, at 18 weeks. I have never felt that type of grief before and I felt like I was all alone. In 2016, my family and I participated in the fun run. Once we finished I knew I wanted to be involved in helping! I reached out to Abby and I have been working on memorial signs ever since! I love having a time to get together with my family and other people who understand our grief. My sons enjoy being able to participate in the fun run to remember their brothers. In 2021, my dad passed away. We created a memorial sign for him and now also use this day to remember all the fun times we had with my dad.

You can thank Heather for all the memorial signs you see on the race course!  We are in a tight time crunch to get the memorial names printed on race shirts and memorial signs.  Heather does a superb job ensuring that your loved one is remembered!  

My name is Jennifer Uptain. I’ve ran the Baby Steps run since 2020 and decided to join the committee in 2023. My husband and I lost our beautiful 5-year-old daughter in December 2019. I wanted to join the committee to help give back to the Amelia Center for all the support they provided my family during our time of grief. I help the run by getting sponsorships, volunteering, or any other ways that may be needed.

Jennifer is such an asset to our committee!  She's the first to jump in and help with ANYTHING! 

Hi! My name is Wendy Malone! I started working with Abby on the Baby steps Steps Committee in 2016.  I met Abby through another group /mutual friend.  After hearing her story and about the Baby Steps Memorial event I knew I wanted to help.  Each year the participants share their story and let us know how much this event means to them.  We have all suffered loss and knowing we provide support to the families and the Amelia Center make it all worth it.  I am thankful to Abby and all the work she does.

Wendy is our ROCKSTAR Committee Member!  She spends countless hours volunteering for many organizations and we are honored to have her on the committee to head up our Packet Pickup!  She is always willing to go above and beyond 

My name is Kathryn Stewart and I am responsible for getting volunteers for race day!  This is my second year being on this committee, however, I have been involved with the Amelia Center since the beginning!  My sister is Amelia Elliott, whom The Amelia Center is named for!  I later was able to use The Amelia Center for myself when my son Tyson died in 2020.  The Baby Steps Memorial Run is a time to honor our children, and raise money to help the center continue to help others on their grief journey! 

You can thank Heather for all the memorial signs you see on the race course!  We are in a tight time crunch to get the memorial names printed on race shirts and memorial signs.  Heather does a superb job ensuring that your loved one is remembered!  

Kathryn is a pro at getting volunteers for our race!  She finds amazing volunteers and helps get them where they need to be on race day!  Her and her family are such a blessing to us all! 

Joel and I became involved with the Amelia Center in the summer of 2015. On April 27, 2015, our daughter Erin, was killed in a head on collision. Erin was 19 years old. She was headed to Wallace Community College for her final exams. Erin wanted to be a labor and delivery nurse. She loved the idea of helping babies into the world. She was taken from us in a moment. After Erin’s accident, I did not want to leave my house. I didn’t want to see anyone, and I didn’t want help. By that summer, Joel and I realized that we needed help. We were not coping well with what had happened. Joel made the appointment, and we went to meet with Robert Smith, who became our counselor and friend. We went for counseling monthly for almost 2 years. The compassion, concern and help we received from Robert and through the Amelia Center was invaluable for Joel and me.  They helped us to navigate the storm of grief and learn to live again. For this, I will forever be grateful for the Amelia Center. I am also thankful for the Baby Steps Memorial 5k. For us, the race is more than just a race or fund raiser. For one day, every year, we focus on our sweet Erin and remember with joy the life she lived. For us, the Baby Steps Memorial 5k is a “Win Win”…On this day, we get to celebrate and remember our beautiful Erin and we get to help support the Amelia Center. 

Melissa oversees our refreshment area on race day as well as giving us great ideas for the event.  Her and her family enjoy providing our participants with pre and post run snacks!  She has a huge team of supporters joining Team Drake on race day!  We appreciate everything that Melissa and her family does to make this fundraiser a success! 

My name is Jamie Parker. I have an amazing husband, three beautiful earthly kiddos and one angel baby. Our family has participated in the Baby Steps 5k since 2015 in remembrance of our baby boy, Wyatt. This run is so special to us and so many of our friends and family members. Crossing that finish line for our boy is something that feels so healing. I joined the committee to try and help continue making this event successful so that other families (and ours) are in some way healed by the time with so many other families celebrating the lives of their loved ones. I am so thankful for the opportunity to participate in this event each and every year. 

Jamie's team, Wyatt's Warriors are the team to beat at the run!  They walk away with lots of medals each year!  We are thankful for her support and the excitement that her and her family bring each year!  She's quick to jump on any opportunity to spread the word about the race!