October is pregnancy and infant loss awareness month. One in four pregnancies in the United States ends in loss, and Ohio is in the top ten states with the highest infant mortality rate. Each year, on the first Saturday of October—falling on October 4 this year—the Race for Grace Remembrance Walk and 5K Run takes place in Deshler, Ohio, the headquarters of Sufficient Grace Ministries.
Over a thousand people gather together, quickly doubling the size of Deshler. The event is more than just a 5K fund-raiser. It’s a time for families who are grieving the loss of their child to be supported as they walk alongside other families. It’s a time to remember and honor the brief and precious lives of their babies.
Established in 2004, Sufficient Grace Ministries is a community-based, nonprofit organization, providing global perinatal hospice and bereavement support and resources for over 2,000 families enduring pregnancy and infant loss, each year. This includes those who have received a life-limiting diagnosis in pregnancy and those facing an unexpected loss through miscarriage, stillbirth or infant/toddler death. SGM’s role is to walk alongside doctors, nurses and other specialties to offer a non-medical layer of parent and family-centered support. In addition to providing exemplary, compassionate, patient-centered support, SGM also focuses on equipping others to support families through comprehensive, CEU-approved training for medical and birth professionals. Resources and services are always given free of charge to bereaved families.
In 2024, Sufficient Grace Ministries offered in-person support services to 265 families; 183 of these families were in northwest Ohio. In 2025, so far, SGM has supported 178 families—123 of them in northwest Ohio—inperson at hospitals or funeral homes. On top of the in-person support, over 2,000 families received support through their Dreams of You bereavement packages, literature and 24/7 virtual support worldwide.
To learn more about the Race for Grace 5K and Sufficient Grace Ministries, contact Katie Turner, philanthropy coordinator, at kati et@sufficientgraceministries. org, or visit sufficientgrace ministries.org/. To register or sponsor the event, visit suffi cientgraceministries.org/com ing-events/.
