What Events and Support Gatherings Does One Bright Star Offer?

One Bright Star runs four recurring gatherings for grieving families: monthly Comfort Conversations, an annual Mothers of Angels event, a Children's Mini Camp for kids who have experienced a loss, and an annual Children's Memorial Service each fall. All of them are listed on the organization's events page, where you can filter by location, date, and category to find what's coming up. The events are open to the families the organization serves — those who have lost a child — and the memorial service is also open to the wider community.

The four recurring gatherings

Comfort Conversations

Held monthly, this is the lowest-commitment way to start. The format is deliberately informal — conversation, friendship, and coffee rather than a structured program. If you're unsure whether a group setting is right for you, this is the easiest one to try first.

Mothers of Angels

Hosted annually, this event brings mothers together in a creative atmosphere. It's aimed specifically at mothers who have lost a child, so the room is made up of people in a similar position.

Children's Mini Camp

An activity-based celebration and support event for children who are experiencing loss. This is the one gathering designed for kids rather than adults, which makes it relevant if there are siblings or other children in the family who need their own space to process.

Children's Memorial Service

Held each fall, this is a special service for families and the community to honor and remember all the children gone too soon. Unlike the other gatherings, it's explicitly open to the broader community, not just immediate family.

A permanent place to remember

Separate from the events calendar, One Bright Star's Children's Memorial is located at Ray Erlandson Park in Mankato. It gives families a physical place to remember and honor the child they lost, and it's available outside of any scheduled event.

How to find and attend an event

1. Go to the events section of onebrightstar.org.
2. Use the filters to narrow the list — you can sort by location, by date, or by event category.
3. Pick the gathering that fits. If you want something ongoing and low-key, start with Comfort Conversations. If you're looking for a one-time community observance, the fall Children's Memorial Service is the fit.
4. Check the individual event listing for the specifics of that date, since the site's category list (Business & Professional, Charity & Causes, Community & Culture, Family & Education, and so on) is a general filter set rather than a description of each gathering.

What to know before you go

• Frequency varies a lot. Only Comfort Conversations is monthly. Mothers of Angels and the Children's Memorial Service happen once a year, so timing matters if you're planning around one of them.
• The audience differs by event. Mothers of Angels is for mothers; Children's Mini Camp is for children; Comfort Conversations and the Memorial Service are broader.
• The events page is the source of truth. Dates, locations, and any registration details live on the individual listings, so confirm there rather than relying on the recurring pattern alone.

Beyond events, One Bright Star also offers a funeral expense grant for families in Southern Minnesota (arranged through local funeral homes) and a grant toward a stay at Faith's Lodge, a grief retreat center. If a gathering isn't what you need right now, those two programs are the other main ways the organization supports families after the death of a child.