Last New Year’s Eve, readers met Tayla List and her son Ezekiel on the front page: a mother and child quietly redefining what celebration looks like. Instead of candles and cake alone or with friends, their birthdays carried something more enduring: generosity with hope to inspire. Care packages. Long drives. Open hearts. Karaoke and Carols even through the tears.
At the time, it felt like a beautiful response to loss.
One year later, it is clear it was never just a response; it was a continuation with clear direction and inspiration.
In the months since that New Year’s Eve story ran, Grieving Angels, the grassroots effort born from grief, love, and a child’s insistence on helping consistently, has become an official, federally recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. But to understand why this work has resonated so deeply, you have to look further back than last year.
Long before Grieving Angels had a name, seeds had already been planted.
Seeds planted long before the loss
The loss of Tayla’s dear friend Kelley Bindewald inspired and ignited a drastic growth in movement, but compassion has shaped Tayla’s life for far longer.
As a young girl, Tayla experienced a tragedy that never leaves you… the loss of an extended family member, Tiffany Johnson, in a church shooting where she did mission work. Tiffany lived by a simple but powerful motto:
“I am going to change the world by loving on people.”
It is a phrase that still whispers gently in Tayla’s thoughts, especially in moments when grief feels heavy and action feels necessary.
Over the years, Tayla has known grief in many forms. She has lost grandparents who helped shape her world. She has lost children through miscarriage; losses often carried quietly, without rituals or recognition. Even this past holiday season, she marked time knowing she would have been due with a child she had deeply hoped for.
Rather than turning away from that pain, Tayla has learned to grieve intentionally.
“To grieve with purpose doesn’t erase the sadness,” she reflects, “but it gives light to love and somehow helps keep the tears at bay and connects a community in so many ways. Grieving Angels has duality within its name. An angel is a symbol we use to describe a presence of care, protection, and compassion often embodied by people, moments, or actions that bring comfort, guidance, or hope during difficult times. An angel is someone that shows up with kindness when it’s needed most, reminds us we are not alone, and helps us through grief, fear, or uncertainty—sometimes quietly, sometimes in powerful unforgettable ways.
Many of our volunteers are actively grieving angels those who we loved and cherished us and together we are Grieving Angels through our own intentions and good works.”
In this understanding, grief is not passive, and angels are not distant. The phrase “grieving angels” holds two truths at once. It honors the people we have lost, those who loved us deeply and continue to shape who we are, even in their absence. At the same time, it names the living response to that loss: choosing to show up for others with the same care, presence, and compassion once given to us.
To grieve intentionally is to carry both sorrow and service side by side. It allows space for tears, while also creating pathways for love to keep moving outward. In that way, grief becomes connective rather than isolating. It draws people together, forms community, and transforms remembrance into action.
Grieving Angels lives in that space between loss and love—where those we miss are honored, and where the living become vessels of kindness in their name. The duality is not about resolving grief, but about allowing it to coexist with purpose, ensuring that love does not end where life does.
That intentional approach to grief has become a cornerstone of her life.
For more than 10 years, Tayla has dedicated her birthdays to charity and acts of kindness; sometimes large, sometimes quiet, always thoughtful. Fundraisers organized year after year. Notes written to remind someone they matter. Small gestures meant to ease invisible burdens.
And whenever a parent lost a child, something in Tayla would stir.
On one such occasion, while holding her own newborn in her arms, Tayla felt compelled to create even in the midst of postpartum exhaustion a hanging memorial for a family who had just lost theirs. She crafted it carefully, incorporating a silhouette same height and weight to honor a life that had been heartbreakingly brief. It was not something she was asked to do. It was something she felt called to do.
Grieving Angels did not create this instinct.
It gave it a home to welcome others to join.
That home took shape after Tayla lost her friend Kelley Bindewald to a courageous battle with small bowel cancer.
Standing beside Kelley in her final days, Tayla witnessed the quiet weight families carry in hospice rooms, the exhaustion, the isolation, the way caregivers often disappear behind the needs of others.
In Kelley’s honor, Tayla created 24 grief care packages for families at Mayo Clinic’s palliative care unit turned into 48 delivered to multiple places. They were not meant to fix grief… nothing can… but to acknowledge it. To say, you are seen. To offer warmth, comfort, and permission to breathe.
What happened next surprised her.
A birthday that changed everything.
That first year, the story deepened when Tayla’s son, Ezekiel, insisted to spend his birthday helping deliver the care packages. He carried boxes through hospital hallways with a quiet reverence beyond his years something she believes our community and the local cub scout program helped instill. He used his birthday money to buy two stuffed animals, one for himself and one for a grieving child he would never meet.
At the end of the day, after hours on the road and moments heavy with emotion, he asked a simple question:
“Mom, can we do this again next year?”
It was not a passing thought. It was a commitment.
Again, and again until it took root.
This past year, “again” became something permanent.
Grieving Angels formally incorporated, assembling a board of directors all women who each carry their own grief of immediate family member and chose to turn it into service. The organization achieved Minnesota nonprofit recognition, followed by federal 501(c)(3) status.
The path was not without obstacles. Delays in the IRS nonprofit directory still limit access to grants and funding opportunities as it has not been updated since August 12th 2025 a few days before their letter of recognition was issued... a challenge many emerging nonprofits quietly face. But the work continued. Grieving Angels is verified on many nonprofit sites after tedious back and forth communications. However, some grant opportunities can not be applied for until the IRS updates that online directory despite having their legal documents of recognition from the IRS.
In the meantime, an official website launched (www.grievingangels.com where you can order customized items and gifts or additional grief support to help raise funds for future grief care packages). The opportunities are abundant and you can email greivingangelsnonprofit@gmail.com to design you own personalized items as most options are not listed yet.
Partnerships formed. Requests for regular donations began arriving from hospitals and organizations that had seen the impact firsthand. Events were planned and bloomed.
What began as one act of kindness had taken root; and roots, once established, hold firm.
When a community shows up
One of the defining moments of the year came during Becker’s inaugural 100 Women Who Care event; a gathering built on collective generosity.
Grieving Angels stood alongside other child-focused organizations, each serving families in different but deeply meaningful ways. When the votes were counted, Grieving Angels received the community’s support. But the greater outcome was connection and conversations that led to shared volunteer efforts, referrals, and collaboration.
That same spirit was visible at Grieving Angels’ volunteer events.
Amid tables of painted hearts and carefully packed care packages, signs were posted with a simple message:
“More missions. More memories that matter.”
Printed beneath those words were the names and purposes of local organizations doing vital work across the region. Volunteers were encouraged not only to serve that day, but to learn where else their time, compassion, or curiosity might lead.
Grieving Angels believes deeply that no single organization can meet every need and that community care is strongest when resources are shared freely. As part of that commitment, they regularly highlight and encourage involvement with organizations such as:
- Becker Backpack Buddies, providing discreet meal support delivered directly to children at school
- Logan Loves, offering supplies, support, and joy for medically complex and injured children
- The Compassion Connection, equipping foster children and foster families with essential items and encouragement
- Together on Memories, providing funding for therapy to support children navigating grief
- You’re Not Alone; promoting mental health and wellness through therapy dogs and school visits
- Farm Friends Barn, inspiring youth through agriculture, animal care, and hands-on learning
- Dylan’s Hope Foundation, focused on suicide prevention, education, and awareness
- Mike + You = Cure, funding cancer research while supporting patients and advocacy efforts
- Becker Breakfast Club, creating a space for faith, food, and friendship for students
- TABI Oasis, offering rapid financial assistance to families with a loved one in the ICU following a brain injury
For Tayla and the Grieving Angels board, the belief is simple: when someone is ready to help or when someone is hurting, having trusted resources within reach matters.
Birthdays that build character
At the center of it all remains the List family and the birthdays that quietly anchor this work.
This year, Tayla once again donated her birthday but for the first time, it went to a charity she founded herself. Her wish was ambitious: hundreds of care packages, youth-led events, and a growing presence in hospitals, schools, libraries and community across the region.
Then came Ezekiel’s birthday.
Eleven years old. And for the second year in a row, he chose generosity and quality time.
Alongside his sister Athena who has expressed her desire to donate her birthday, Ezekiel helped deliver 132 care packages to the children’s hospital, local hospitals and a hospice home that serves children transitioning. What began as a child following his mother into service has become a child modeling empathy for an entire community.
“This isn’t about being extraordinary,” Tayla says. “It’s about choosing compassion in the ways we can and hoping to inspire others to join us.”
Sharing the story.
Those who follow Grieving Angels online may notice something about Tayla’s storytelling.
She shares openly but not to center herself.
For years, Tayla has focused heavily on being a stay-at-home mother, navigating life’s many trials quietly, her own childhood trauma and grief intentionally. She has faced hardship she sometimes names outright. She has been encouraged by others to speak, to share even when her voice shakes and she feels unsure because her journey invites participation. Shares a long, devoted reputation of showing up, creating change you want to see and hoping it inspires connection and momentum.
An invitation, not just to Grieving Angels
As a new year begins, many nonprofits, Grieving Angels included are doing so much with limited funding and growing needs.
That is why Grieving Angels encourages people not only to follow their journey on Facebook or learn more at grievingangels.com, but to take action wherever their hearts are stirred. They are looking for regular sponsors so they can focus on planning events, sharing resources, and fulfilling their mission.
You could start a fundraiser for Grieving Angels, or for any nonprofit that inspires you.
Consider a small, recurring gift, even $5 a week to an organization doing work you believe in. Oftentimes when you donate to a nonprofit, they are able to stretch your dollar with bulk orders and discounted rates. You will always make an impact when you donate directly and shop locally. Volunteer once. Or often. Or simply help make a connection. Share their journey. Share a nonprofit once a month.
Because sustained kindness changes more than moments — it changes lives.
One year later — and still growing
Last year’s headline captured a moment. This year’s story captures something steadier.
From 24 care packages to 48 to hundreds.
From a birthday tradition to a federally recognized nonprofit.
From personal grief to a shared community mission.
Grieving Angels continues to receive requests for ongoing hospital support. More events are being planned. More children are learning that grief and big emotions can be carried with kindness and that even small hands can hold great compassion.
What began as a whisper —
“I am going to change the world by loving on people”
is being echoed.
Tayla often says,
“We did this together.”
As the new year unfolds, our focus remains on what gives life meaning and hope while we spend our time intentionally. Grieving Angels does not rush grief or big emotions. It does not soften it into something comfortable. Instead, it meets families exactly where they are with tangible care, creative expression, and the reassurance that love does not disappear when someone is gone.
