PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — An Aroostook County family has turned the theft of a bronze moose from a loved one’s gravestone into an opportunity to help comfort children being treated for cancer at the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital in Portland.
Instead of replacing the statue, which has yet to be recovered, Kelly Langley says the family is raising money to buy as many as 500 stuffed moose to give away as a tribute her mother.
The family of Denise (Grenier) Hill of Chapman, who died of cancer in 1998, reported the theft on Sept. 7 of a 30-pound bronze moose statue that rested for 16 years on top of her headstone at the Fairmount Cemetery in Presque Isle.
“It wasn’t just a statue to us. It was one of the last gestures and signs of love that we as a family could show to my mom, as she loved moose,” Langley wrote in a Facebook post following the incident. “I am not sure what the statue is worth to someone else, but I do know what it meant to us.”
The Presque Isle Police Department continues to investigate the theft of the statue, which is still missing. Instead of replace the statue, Langley said she and her family decided — because her mother died of cancer — to turn the loss into a tribute to her by donating stuffed moose to children being treated for cancer at the southern Maine hospital.
“After talking to some family, we thought that this disgusting act of vandalism cannot define us, nor my mother. We have had so many people offer donations to purchase another bronze moose statue. But, as a family, we decided that is not the best solution. We just aren’t sure that a second statue would be safe. We will not allow another theft to occur,” Langley said.
She added that family members felt “putting another statue at her grave site would be setting us up for yet another heartbreak.”
Instead, the family decided to turn the loss around by giving to others.
“We are looking to raise funds to purchase several hundred adorable stuffed moose to deliver to the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital (in Portland). If we can put a smile on one child’s face or even provide some level of comfort with a stuffed moose from Denise’s Moose, it would mean the world to us,” Langley said in a post on the crowdfunding website youcare.com.
On the Denise’s Moose page of the website, the deceased’s sister Diane Aniolowski says her sibling “was as beautiful as a person can be. Her strength with her battle with cancer was beyond belief. The willpower it took her to get through some pretty tough days and still be able to smile that pretty smile and even tease you will forever be something that I will always look up to.”
Aniolowski also recalled her sister’s great love of moose.
“Some of my best memories are of our camping trips chasing moose — never to catch them but just to get as close as we could to admire them. The moose clothing, cups, statues, stuffed animals, pins, even French meat pies with the crust shaped into a moose. Moose helped Denise feel better, took the harshness away, even if it was for a short time,” Aniolowski said.
“For us, the symbol of that moose was what she saw: strength, beauty — they were tough, tender, but most of all symbolized love,” she wrote.
The sister asks family and friends to do what they can to make the project a success.
“Please help us to raise what we can to make children smile — to help them forget their sickness for even a moment and wish Denise a happy 60th birthday. I know she’ll be smiling,” Aniolowski said.
Darlene Leach, another of Denise’s sisters, works at Ben’s Trading Post in Presque Isle and helped arrange the purchase of the stuffed toys.
“We felt this was a fitting tribute to my sister — sharing her love of moose, while benefiting kids at the Barbara Bush Center in Portland. This is a small gesture, but we hope it will bring big smiles to kids with cancer,” Leach said.
The initial goal of Denise’s Moose was to raise $2,600. But as of Wednesday afternoon, with 30 days to go in campaign, donors already contributed $3,305.
After reaching $2,900 on Nov. 13, Langley posted on the Web page that 300 stuffed moose had been ordered and that the fundraising would continue in hopes of making enough to buy 500 before Christmas.
“We are beyond grateful at the amount of donations we have received so far. … Thank you so much to everyone who has donated and to those who have shared our page,” Langley wrote.
“It’s the time of year to which we all need to reflect upon the things in life we are grateful for. I personally have so many reasons to be grateful. My children are both healthy and have never known what it is like to be ill or to suffer a diagnosis (of some illness),” Langley wrote. “Sadly, the kids at Barbara Bush’s Children’s Hospital are not that lucky. Won’t you help us to comfort them at this time of year? Any donation is appreciated.”
To make a donation, or for more information, visit the “Denise’s Moose” page on the youcaring.com website.