Endless Love | Inspired By Our Siblings With Disabilities
On April 28th, 2021, Lauren Bernstein uncharacteristically commented on @bonniejenniferjewelry Instagram profile. That post caught her attention because it was a picture of Bonnie's sister Cindy on her Birthday, who lives with multiple disabilities.
Lauren and Bonnie instantly connected over a private direct message and much to their surprise had a lot more in common than a sibling with a disability. They discovered that their parents knew each other and that they lived around the corner from each other. They attended the same high school and even went to the same camp. When they decided to dive deeper into a scheduled phone conversation they realized they had faced similar challenges and had the same passion for their siblings’ well-being.
Both agreed they are fortunate to have the best resources and financial support available for their siblings, as their parents provide and advocate for them daily but they were concerned for those that are less fortunate. Caring and worrying about family members with disabilities is increasingly shifting towards siblings as the baby boomer generation ages. Together, they began the workings of The Endless Love Project, with Bonnie designing the Endless love bracelet, and Lauren organizing a charity shopping event with numerous vendors set to take place on October 8th, 2021.
On September 10th, 2021, they finalized the bracelet design and 8 days after completing the endless love bracelet, Bonnie spent the weekend taking care of her sister. It was admittedly difficult due to Cindy’s temperament. In an attempt to soothe her, Bonnie decided to play music. Shifting through numerous genres and decades, Cindy didn’t appear to respond to anything. Their mother suggested playing Lionel Richie since Cindy adores him, and as soon as she heard her favorite song ‘Endless Love’ she reacted and started making the infinity motions similar to the bracelet designed in her honor. Bonnie believed this experience to be serendipitous.
The end goal of their project is to start a direct donation program to alleviate these circumstances that many families face, but for now, the pair is dedicated to helping however they can. Lauren and Bonnie are providing direct aid to a person whose primary caretaker is their sibling. Moving forward they will be giving 15% of endless love sales to gift a family who needs an essential accessory or device for their care.
From their first fundraising event, Bonnie and Lauren raised approximately 2,000 dollars and have fulfilled the requests of their chosen family. They will be hand delivering an alarm clock, a recliner chair, and the remaining balance will go directly to the repairman to fix their ceiling. The two are beyond excited to help out and look forward to being the Sibling Santas for many more families in need.
Below you can see Cindy listening to Endless Love.