Shortly thereafter, Stephanie’s twin sister spent a month in the hospital after a serious car accident. During her rehabilitation, Sandy met a woman making quilts for Daystar. Knowing that Stephanie was searching for another way to honor her daughter, Sandy encouraged Stephanie to learn more about Daystar. In early September 2008 Stephanie, Sandy and Deb walked through the doors of Daystar and it was love at first sight. The babies were drawn to Stephanie and her gentle soothing touch. Stephanie was drawn to the babies with their unconditional smiles.
The demand for Katie’s Closet bracelets continued to grow. Three styles grew to twenty. Buyers were collecting them all. This sparked a whole new interest from the community. A Fairport Jeweler, who prefers to remain anonymous, donated over 6,000 pearls. The volunteers created the “Katie Signature Bracelet” which is a strand of five pearls, one representing each of the five Fairport Angels, and offset with crystal. Volunteers stepped up from all around Rochester to learn how to make the signature bracelets. Soon this line of jewelry was in full production. Stephanie found herself at different craft shows and community events selling the jewelry. But most importantly, Stephanie was able to secure nine businesses throughout Rochester to display and sell the jewelry. Not one business has taken any of the profits for themselves. One hundred percent of the money goes to Katie’s Closet.
Jewelry wasn’t the only thing Stephanie was pushing. She was making sure people throughout this community really got to know Daystar and the unique service provided. Each piece of jewelry sold has information about the organization attached. She even organized a “Supply Drive” for diapers, wipes, baby food, paper towels and other items on the Daystar wish list. Ortho-Clinical Diagnostic, a company of Johnson & Johnson presented Stephanie with hundreds of baby products during the holidays. Katie’s Closet hosts shows and participates in some of our area’s biggest events, including Fairport Canal Days and the Park Avenue Festival.
Katie’s Closet volunteers now hand-make almost all of the jewelry sold for Katie’s Closet. Even after two years, her army of volunteers doesn’t dwindle, it continues to grow. An owner of a vacant store in Perinton has offered the use of his building rent free for “jewelry making” until a renter comes along. Each Tuesday and Thursday night and Saturday and Sunday afternoon you will find Stephanie and a group of volunteers working hard on jewelry production. Stephanie is surrounded by a group of men and women dedicated to Katie and determined to make something good out of something so tragic.
The relationship between Katie’s Closet and Daystar is now nine months old. In that short amount of time Stephanie and Katie’s Closet have donated more than $65,000 to Daystar. We will be forever grateful for the day Stephanie, Sandy and Deb walked through the Daystar door. Above the entrance to our home, the quote reads “the stars exist to see how high our dreams can soar.” Stephanie Shirley is our shining star, and with her help, dreams for Daystar will come true.