Lost & Found Grief Center

04/24/2026

Lost & Found Grief Center’s annual Run & Remember 1-Mile Memory Walk and 5K is coming up on Thursday, May 21, at 6:30 p.m.

One of the beautiful and special parts of this event is the Memorial Garden, where 18x24 Memory signs display the names and photos of people being honored and remembered.💙🧡

Walkers and runners can add a sign to their registration. Additionally, individuals in our community who would like to have their person recognized as part of Run & Remember 2026 can also purchase a sign. The deadline to order a sign is May 5.
These signs cost $55, and individuals can take the sign home following the event.

💙 Sign up for Run & Remember at lostandfoundozarks.com

🧡 Learn more about Memorial Signs at:
https://runsignup.com/Race/Store/MO/Springfield/RunandRemember5k

04/23/2026

In honor of World Book Day, we’re highlighting two books written by Lost & Found Grief Center staff. 📚🧡💙 Both books are good resources for parents, caregivers, and professionals navigating the topic of grief.

💙 Little Grievers Workbook
This workbook offers guidance for supporting preschool-aged children after the death of a loved one. It helps parents and caregivers talk with young children about grief, while explaining the unique developmental needs of kids ages 2–5. It provides simple, age-appropriate language and practical ways to help little ones cope and express their feelings.

💚 The Most Special Gift: Explaining Organ Donation to Children
This book sensitively tells the story of Julian, a young boy whose father dies. In the story, Julian learns that his family made the special decision of organ donation. Julian’s mother explains organ donation in age-appropriate language. Ultimately, Julian and his mother remember that Julian’s dad was always helping others, and they take comfort knowing that he continued helping people through the most special gift of life.

Both books are available for purchase on the Lost & Found website on the Reading Recommendations page. You can also call our office at 417-865-9998.

04/22/2026

Happy Earth Day!💙🌳🧡🌎💚

One way we add green space at Lost & Found Grief Center is in our memorial garden area - where we currently have a beautiful tree in bloom! We love seeing different plants and flowers bloom, especially in the spring.

If you are looking for a way to honor or remember a loved one, consider planting a tree or flower on Earth Day!

04/21/2026

Want all the details about registering for Run & Remember coming up on May 21? Here they are: https://conta.cc/4vJEDGc

Email from Lost & Found Grief Center Register for Run & Remember before April 30 for the best price!   Join Lost & Found Grief Center  Thursday, May 21, at 6:30 p.m.  for Run & Remember 2026! Our

04/21/2026

We are ONE MONTH out from Lost & Found's Run & Remember! Register for either the 1-Mile or 5K by April 30 for the best price! 🧡💙 This community event is a great way to gather with friends and family to honor the life of someone who has died.

Register today at lostandfoundozarks.com

04/20/2026

This week is National Volunteer Week 💙🧡

Throughout the year, more than 100 people give their time and hearts to support Lost & Found Grief Center. This includes facilitators who support grieving individuals in our therapeutic grief support groups, greeters who welcome families each week, office volunteers, and event supporters who step up for events like Run & Remember, Evening of Hope, Golf Fore Hope, and many more throughout the year.

We are so thankful for the many ways our volunteers show up to support others on their grief journey. Each volunteer is a ripple of hope for our community! 🌊🧡💙

04/16/2026

One of the most meaningful parts of Run & Remember is seeing friends and family come together to form a team in honor of their person.🧡💙

Teams can be any size—and groups of 10 receive a special discount.

Here’s Mark Miller, Lost & Found’s Executive Director, sharing about his family’s team in 2019.

Create your team and sign up today on our website or through RunSignUp.

❤️

04/15/2026

Thank you, MSU's Laboratory Theatre Company for inviting Lost & Found Grief Center to be a community partner for this weekend's production of The Theory of Relativity.

We'll be accepting donations to our Amazon wish list as part of this showing on Friday, April 17, and Saturday, April 18, with show times at 7:30 p.m.

If you are interested in attending this free show, please sign up using their LinkTree: linktr.ee/labratorytheatre

04/13/2026

Lost & Found Grief Center is honored to offer a 7-week Adult Grief Group designed for anyone who has experienced the death of a parent, sibling, grandparent, or another significant person in their life.🧡💙

This 7-week session is a good way to take the next step in your grief journey. Whether your loss is recent or from years past, you are welcome here.

The group meets weekly on Monday or Thursday evenings from 6:30–8:00 p.m., providing a consistent and supportive space to learn, reflect, and connect.

Each session offers practical tools and insights about grief while also allowing space for participants to process their own experiences in a meaningful and supportive environment.

We understand that life is busy, but we also believe it’s important to take time to acknowledge and work through the emotions that come with loss—you don’t have to do that alone.

This 7-week session is a good way to take a next step in your grief journey. Whether your loss is recent or from years past, you are welcome here.

If you'd like to know more, give us a call at 417-865-9998 or complete the contact form on our website.

We also invite you to gently share this with a friend who is navigating grief. 🧡💙

04/10/2026

There's a cliche that the death of a child is "a parent's worst nightmare." And, while losing a child is one of the worst things that can happen to a parent, if the deceased child had any siblings, the surviving brothers and sisters have to live in that bad dream too.

Ethan Miller lost his only sibling, his older brother Luke, a little more than a month before Ethan turned 18. Now 25, Ethan volunteers with Lost & Found at events and facilitates our teen grief groups. On this National Siblings Day, Ethan offers his reflection on losing his big brother and the impact it had on his family.

Read the excerpt below and find the full version on our Stories & Blog webpage:

Thank you, Ethan, for sharing your story and being a ripple of hope today.🧡💙

💙🧡

"When I was 17, my older brother Luke died from complications of epilepsy.

His death was sudden and unexpected. He was only 20 years old. I watched my parents, once so steady and reliable, disintegrate into puddles of life’s most intense emotions. Within months, I became unwillingly familiar with the truth that “there is nothing worse than losing a child.”

Thankfully, my family was surrounded by a close-knit, loving community, and I watched from behind a quiet, stunned exterior as friends and family rushed to my parents’ aid. For a month, maybe more, we never had to lift a finger to prepare dinner. The meal train was so swiftly arranged that I assumed such things just appeared naturally in the wake of a tragic death, just like the texts, the confusion, and the tears.

Of course, I benefited from this support as well, but my hyper-sensitive adolescent awareness could not shake the pesky feeling that all of these well-wishers seemed keenly focused on the tragedy my parents had endured. There were comments, so subtly pronounced that I remember them as whispers, that quickly defined my place within the whirlwind.

These well-meaning voices convinced me––distraught and eager to do what I could to help return my parents to the people I knew––that I did not get to feel this loss. That, at least for now, it was theirs, and it was my responsibility to let it be theirs. So, little by little, I retreated into the performance of okay-ness that would stunt my grief for years, left with only the memory of the one person who could’ve helped me – my brother."

Read Ethan's full story here: https://lostandfoundozarks.com/the-loss-of-a-brother-a-best-friend/

04/09/2026

At Lost & Found Grief Center, we not only provide support to grieving people, but we also work to create a grief-informed community. We advanced that mission today by hosting 40 local school counselors, social workers, and clinicians to talk to them about grief, how to support students and families who are grieving, and the services we provide. A special thanks to Mid-America Transplant's Lori Pace for sharing her personal story of loss and the power of organ and tissue donation. 🧡💙💚