Tim and Sherri Adams of Orangeburg lost their daughter in a car accident in 2008 and wanted to provide a place of remembrance for all families in South Carolina who have lost a child.
Inspired by Richard Paul Evans’ best-selling novel, The Christmas Box, about a woman who mourns her lost child at an angel statue, the Adams approached Orangeburg Parks and Recreation Director Buster Smith in 2009 to suggest establishing an Angel of Hope monument.
The purpose of the garden was to provide a place of quiet remembrance of children lost and a place of solitude and serenity to celebrate life.
A year later, the City of Orangeburg opened South Carolina’s first and only Angel of Hope Garden in the picturesque Edisto Memorial Gardens. The Angle of Hope Garden features the 4-foot-tall Angel of Hope statue set atop a granite base, a Wall of Love and a Walk of Love.
The project was the extraordinary result of the Adams’ unique and touching request that went beyond just an idea. The couple provided the start-up money and helped form a citizens’ committee that raised on its own the entire $45,000 needed for the project.
The committee raised funds from residents attending the Orangeburg Festival of Roses. Local businesses, churches, civic groups and other foundations also donated, raising about 90 percent of the total. Granite markers commemorating the lives of individual children also helped raise funds.
City staff, primarily from the Parks and Recreation and Service Departments, planned and installed irrigation, lighting and landscaping as well as the Wall of Love, the Walk of Love and other walkways. A local brick mason and monument company donated their skills and labor, which greatly helped offset costs.
The city built the site large enough to accommodate an annual candlelight vigil it will host every December. The project is more than a physical structure. It is a place and means for surviving family members to share experiences and support each other.
Orangeburg’s Angel of Hope statue is the 100th such statue built around the world. Fifty families affected by the loss of a child and some 200 attended the dedication of the garden, which memorializes children from five counties but stands to serve families statewide. Support for the garden continues to grow.
Contact John Yow at jyow@orangeburg.sc.us or 803.533.6000.