'Katie's closet' is open, helping fragile babies
Stephanie Shirley remembers when her late daughter Katherine "Katie" Shirley wore a tiara to Fairport High School for her 18th birthday."She always wanted to be a princess," Shirley said. "Not because of what princesses had, but because of what they could do. They could help people."
Just a month after wearing her tiara to school and five days after graduating, Katie and four fellow Fairport Class of 2007 graduates died in a head-on collision in Ontario County.
The crash on June 26, 2007, left Shirley grasping for a way to honor her only child, "to do something for her," she said. That something was Katie Shirley's Closet. Located at 19 Courtney Commons Plaza off Pittsford Palmyra Road in Perinton, the store offers ready-made and handcrafted jewelry, bridal accessories and build-a-bracelet gatherings.
"I had a desperate need to come out of the crash for Katie," Shirley said. "I had to survive. I had to do something for her."All proceeds go to Day-star for Medically Fragile Infants Inc. in Pittsford -- a licensed, nursing-supervised medical day and respite program for infants under age 3.
Katie had a fondness for caring for babies, Shirley said. "They had a special place in her heart."Katie Shirley's Closet has raised close to $100,000 for Daystar since September 2008 and is the organization's top fundraiser, according to Coleen Emblidge, Daystar's director of development and finance.
"To raise the money she does consistently month after month, year after year is staggering," Emblidge said. "The accident was so tragic and yet out of it this remarkable relationship was born."
But it was not just Katie's accident that led Shirley to choose Daystar as the beneficiary for Katie Shirley's Closet. Nine months after Katie and her girlfriends Hannah Congdon, Bailey Goodman, Sara Monnat and Meredith McClure were killed, Shirley's mother, Mary Maggio, and twin sister, Sandy Monahan, were hit by a drunken driver in Rochester. While they were recovering at Strong Memorial Hospital, a volunteer named Lynn Cos told them about Daystar.
Shirley visited Daystar and was moved by the babies, staff and volunteers who cared for them. She dubbed them "The Baby Whisperers" and began volunteering there herself.
"Whenever I put Katie's name on something, it has to be important," Shirley said.Shirley is quick to point out she could not raise the funds for Daystar without the help of her own volunteers at the shop.
Volunteers do everything from beading bracelets to hanging drywall to staffing the store while Shirley is at her full-time job for Kelly Services onsite at Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics.
Many of Shirley's volunteers are parents of friends of Katie -- such as Marcus Merriman Sr., whose son Marcus Jr. was one of Katie's closest friends. Merriman is one of about eight fathers who helped get Katie Shirley's Closet opened at its new location in Perinton in January. "The tragedy will never go away for any of us," Merriman said. "There are always reminders of what was lost. But we try to help Stephanie move forward, and her genuine appreciation for our help compels us to help even more."
Other volunteers did not know Katie, but have been motivated by her mother.Jay Birnbaum of Pittsford is one such supporter. "I'm sorry the shop has to be there for the reason that it is," Birnbaum said. "But what Stephanie is doing is ... inspiring and having her collaborate with Daystar is such a positive thing."
Shirley said she knew she would never have a wedding to plan or grandbabies to shop for. "But I have this," she said. "This is how I ... celebrate Katie."
Caurie Putnam is a freelance writer who lives in Brockport.
