OLMC Buttons Project
What is The Buttons Project?
The Buttons Project was created on June 2008 by Marina and Peter Young in New Zealand. Marina had an abortion as a young woman and states, “The abortion experience has never left me, and for years I wondered how to give other women like myself a safe place to grieve for, and commemorate, the babies lost. For there is no grave we can visit, no place to lay flowers, and no tangible way of remembering them.”
Marina watched a documentary about a class in America who started a project to collect paperclips to commemorate the loss of Jewish lives in the Holocaust. They received over 20 million paper clips and used them to create an incredible memorial. Marina was so moved that it became her inspiration to create The Buttons Project.
She writes, “The project enables women who have had abortions, and also the fathers, grandparents, sisters, or brothers, to do something when there is nothing you can do. They choose a button that is special and unique to them, representing a life lost, and send this to Buttons Project…..the project has over 20,000 buttons which will eventually be displayed in an appropriate place of remembrance, which will be a safe place to visit without judgement.”
Click HERE for Marina’s Story about the Buttons Project.
What is the purpose?
Our Lady of Mount Carmel’s Pro-Life Ministry was inspired by Marina’s story to start our own “OLMC BUTTONS PROJECT.”
An estimated 63 million precious lives have been lost to abortions since the 1973 Roe v Wade decision that legalized abortions. The need to grieve the loss of an aborted child is almost non-existent in our culture. It is a loss that society doesn’t always validate. As a result, grieving, memorializing, and honoring an aborted child is lost.
Each button that is collected represents a precious life. Because there is no grave we can visit and no place to lay flowers, this is a small step to honor these Unborn Babies. They deserve the same respect and dignity as all human beings. It also serves as a visual reminder for those who have experienced the ordeal of an abortion and who will hopefully begin a journey of healing.
What can you do?
If you know of an Unborn Baby lost to abortion, please donate a button to commemorate each baby. The container is located inside the church to the left, as you enter through the large copper doors. There is a poster directly above the container. This can be done anonymously at your convenience. The church is open daily from 7:00am to 8:00pm.
Click HERE to watch Marina’s Message to Our Lady of Mount Carmel parishioners.