Noah’s Butterfly Project is a way to Show Love for Children Lost
By Shannon Weidemann (McKone) on Thursday, May 11th, 2023 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
UNION COUNTY – On Friday, May 12 a small group of volunteers will spend some time decorating the graves of children with butterflies. Bonnie Shepherd, who started this project in 2019, says Noah’s Butterfly Project is a way to show love to mothers who have lost children and to let them know that their child has not been forgotten.
Noah’s Butterfly Project began in 2019 when Shepherd decided to take the loss of her son Noah, whom she lost shortly after birth 17 years prior, and turn that negative into something positive.
Shepherd said that one day in 2019 she came upon a newspaper article about a woman in Portland who had spread butterflies on the graves of children in an effort to share love with mothers who had lost children. This really struck a chord in her heart; Shepherd said and inspired her to do something similar. Rather than hiding away every Mother’s Day, as she had for those past 17 years, she decided to start adorning cemeteries with butterflies.
Shepherd says that in 2019, she and some friends, who had also lost children, covered Hillcrest Cemetery in La Grande and Island City Cemetery with butterflies, as well as Forest Lawn Cemetery in Gresham where Noah is buried.
Since 2019 Noah’s Butterfly Project has grown to include Grandview Cemetery in La Grande and the old Pioneer Cemetery on Mt. Glenn Road. Shepherd says that they include the cemetery on Mt. Glenn for those children that were lost coming on the wagon trains.
After hearing of the project, Shepherd says, a woman and her mother in Milton Freewater have joined in on the project and will be adorning two cemeteries in Milton Freewater with Butterflies for Mother’s Day as well, The Milton Freewater Cemetery and the Bowlus Cemetery.
In 2022 over 2,500 butterflies were spread just in the local area around Union County, Shepherd noted. The butterflies are waterproof and are mounted on little metal stands so they display nicely at the cemeteries.
Anyone interested in learning more about Noah’s Butterfly Project or those who may be interested in donating to the project can email Bonzi.Shepherd@yahoo.com
