Having witnessed several close friends experience the horrible tragedy of losing young children or grandchildren, Denise Loewenstein, director of account management at Accredo Specialty Pharmacy, had seen the impact this type of loss has on families.

Determined to make a difference, Loewenstein partnered with Gwendolyn’s Gifts, a nonprofit in St. Louis that provides emotional and financial support to families with children in pediatric hospice care. The organization offers care packages, assistance with mortgage and car payments, up to $5,000 in funeral costs and more. In 2024, it donated more than $500,000 to help families and expects to surpass that amount this year. Pictured: Loewenstein (left) with Erin Kramer of Gwendolyn’s Gifts (right) raise funds at a golf tournament, with all proceeds donated to the organization.

Together, they launched Gwendolyn’s Circle to help families with the daunting task of planning a child’s funeral. Gwendolyn’s Circle includes a network of 19 local funeral homes with 29 locations, offering discounts, support groups, and other special programming related to grief and loss.

“We didn’t require specific contributions, but each participating funeral home offered a discount, such as free caskets, wholesale pricing, or reduced fees,” Loewenstein said.

Loewenstein’s work with Gwendolyn’s Circle is part of The Cigna Group’s Community Ambassador Fellowship program, which selects up to 15 employees annually, awarding up to three months of paid leave and $20,000 to develop programs that improve health and vitality in communities worldwide. Since 2017, fellows have launched initiatives to make lasting changes in the communities they serve.

Collaborative efforts to complete the circle

The mascot for Gwendolyn’s Gifts is an elephant, inspired by the way elephants circle sick members of their herd. The symbolism became central to Gwendolyn’s Circle: “circling families with care and support when they need it the most.”

To promote Gwendolyn’s Circle, Loewenstein enlisted Notion Marketing, which donated 80 hours to develop folders to share with hospital social workers and families. The folders detail participating funeral homes and available discounts and resources aiming to ease the financial and emotional burden of funeral planning. Notion Marketing also created an online resource guide with these overviews and developed fillable application templates for new funeral homes to join the circle and expand the network. The project was publicly announced at a local gala, where Loewenstein and Kramer shared the new resources with the community.

“Our initial goal was to come up with 25 funeral home locations, and we found 29 in the St. Louis area,” Loewenstein said. “It was a great learning experience – I had to connect with them and tell the human story behind the ask.”

Loewenstein said the experience also reinforced the importance of listening to clients at her day job at The Cigna Group. “This experience gave me an important reminder that we need to listen and really connect with people so we can best meet their needs,” she said.