Cleveland, OH – The annual Wave of Light (WOL) global ceremony will once again be held October 15 to encourage individuals to light a candle to reflect upon pregnancy and infant loss and those affected by it. 

The event has grown since its start seven years ago from 66 babies being honored to 129 registered babies over 200 names called and 220 YouTube views in 2023. This year’s theme is A Family’s Support and will be a hybrid event; Streamed for families at home and across the globe, but also live and in person for the second year since COVID19 at the Cleveland Botanical Gardens.

“Twins run in our family, but nobody had born any since my father’s generation.  I always thought it would be one of my children that would have twins so when Samantha became pregnant with Christyan and Jayden, I was absolutely thrilled!  In my excitement, I never thought it was possible that the boys would not survive.  It was devastating to all of us and as we continue to move through the healing process, we are blessed to have PAIL and the Wave of Light to help us every day and every year.” Joyce Williams – Mother of Samantha Williams-Pierce

To participate in the 2024 WOL event, individuals are encouraged to register online at Wave of Light Cleveland 2024 (#waveoflightCle) Registration, Tue, Oct 15, 2024 at 6:30 PM | Eventbrite by 5:00 pm, Wednesday, October 9 to assure their baby’s name is included in the ceremony. When individuals’ complete registration, they will receive a meeting link to participate in the October 15 ceremony or other instructions if they are attending the live event.  Candles with the baby(s) names will be created for those attending in person only.  

The doors will open at 5:30 pm, the program begins promptly at 6:30 pm, with the candle lighting ceremony starting promptly at 7:00 pm. A live broadcast of the ceremony will be on YouTube and can be found at https://youtube.com/live/4JCiZK68Hfc?feature=share. Participants are encouraged to share and show support on social media using #waveoflightcle. 

First Year Cleveland has proudly served as the founding and primary sponsor of the annual Wave of Light ceremony. Birthing Beautiful Communities and Charles Martin Corvi Foundation also provided generous support to the ceremony.