Sunflowers for Sallie's second Friendsgiving in Dartmouth Nov. 19 raises money for grieving children
Walsh was 6 when her mother died, and the $20 evening at the Dartmouth VFW on Cross Road raises money for help that follows grieving children as they grow up.
DARTMOUTH In elementary school, Hannah Walsh ate lunch once a week in a separate room with a few other children who had lost someone close to them, a group that went by the name "Lunch Bunch."
"For that brief period each week, I was surrounded by other kids who understood, at least in some way, what it felt like to lose someone," Walsh wrote this month on the blog of Positive Action Against Chemical Addiction in New Bedford, where she is executive assistant. "It made things feel a little less lonely."
Walsh's mother, Sallie LeBlanc, died by suicide in 2007, when Walsh was 6. Last year Walsh, now 26, founded Sunflowers for Sallie through the Rotary Club of Dartmouth, a youth grief awareness initiative named for her mother, and on Thursday, Nov. 19, it holds its second annual Friendsgiving fundraiser at the Dartmouth VFW to pay for help that stays with grieving children as they grow up.
The night of the fundraiser
The Friendsgiving is at the Dartmouth VFW, 144 Cross Road. The organizer's flyer, press release and ticket page all give a 5 p.m. start, and the ticket page lists it as ending at 7 p.m., though one line in the ticket page's description gives 6 p.m. Admission is a $20 donation, and the flyer lists food, a cash bar, live music and raffles. The ticket page lists the evening as open to all ages, with free parking, and says tickets are not refundable.
What the money is for
After a first year of outreach, Sunflowers for Sallie is working toward three proposed projects, its release says. The first is a network of funeral homes, first responders, police, clergy and social service agencies that would connect grieving families with age-appropriate resources, care packages and support services.
The second would sponsor grief-awareness presentations and training for teachers, caregivers and others who work with children. The third is a portable Wind Phone, a disconnected telephone, designed with children in mind, where people can speak to loved ones who have died. It has not been built yet, the initiative's one-page summary says, and the group is looking for a local school to host the first one.
"There is no one on the other end of the line, but that's not the point," Walsh wrote of the Wind Phone. "The idea is to provide a quiet space where someone can say the things they wish they could still say, share memories, or simply express feelings they may struggle to put into words elsewhere."
The summary says the money raised pays for care packages, grief education and the Wind Phone, and that the initiative works with Dartmouth Rotary to track how the money is spent and report back to supporters. It lists the Greater New Bedford Suicide Prevention Coalition as a collaborator.
Why she started it
In her post, Walsh wrote that adults tend to recognize a child's grief when the loss is recent and the child is crying, and lose sight of it years later, when the same child is an angry teenager struggling in school. "Grief doesn't always look like grief," she wrote.
"A child who loses a parent at six doesn't experience that loss only at six," Walsh wrote. "They experience it again at twelve, sixteen, at graduation, and every milestone that follows."
She wants the adults around those children ready for that, writing, "We cannot expect every teacher to be a grief counselor, but we can work toward making sure they feel better prepared to respond with understanding rather than judgment," and she offered a question she would like them to ask about a child who is acting out: "What might this child be going through?"
Walsh is secretary of the Rotary Club of Dartmouth, the club's website shows. Sunflowers for Sallie was also listed among the vendors and guest speakers for the Feel Good Fair on June 6 at UMass Dartmouth, a free wellness day the towns of Dartmouth and Westport planned with the Southcoast Public Health Collaborative, according to the town of Dartmouth's announcement of the fair.
How to take part
Tickets for the Nov. 19 Friendsgiving are on the event's Eventbrite page and at paaca.org/sunflowers4sallie, which also takes donations, and the release invites residents, businesses and organizations to attend, donate, sponsor or partner with the initiative. Schools and groups interested in a grief presentation or in hosting the first Wind Phone can write to the initiative at hannah7950rotary@gmail.com, the address on its summary.
Anyone thinking about suicide, or worried about someone who might be, can call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, which is free, confidential and open 24 hours a day, every day of the year, according to the Lifeline.
Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.
Notes
Every fact about the fundraiser comes from the organizer's own Eventbrite ticket page, flyer, press release and one-page summary, and every quote from Hannah Walsh comes from her own post on the PAACA blog of Nov. 5; we read each in full on Nov. 14. Her role in the Rotary club comes from the club's website, the Feel Good Fair from the town of Dartmouth's May 8 announcement, and the Lifeline details from the 988 Lifeline's own site, all read Nov. 14. We checked each date and weekday against a calendar. This story follows safe-messaging practice for suicide: it gives no detail of the death beyond what Walsh has made public and ends with the 988 Lifeline. Not heard: Walsh has not been interviewed for this story yet; her answers will be worked in if she gives them.
Corrections
No corrections to this story. If something here is wrong, tell us. Every correction is dated on the story and listed in our public log.
Sources (7)
- Sunflowers for Sallie, "Sunflowers for Sallie: 2nd Annual Friendsgiving Fundraiser" ticket page, EventbriteThursday, Nov. 19, 5 to 7 p.m., Dartmouth VFW, 144 Cross Road; $20 admission; all ages; free parking; no refunds. Read Nov. 14, 2026.
- Positive Action Against Chemical Addiction (PAACA), "Growing up with Grief," blog post by Hannah Walsh, PAACA executive assistantPosted Nov. 5, 2026. Walsh's own account: the Lunch Bunch, her mother's death in 2007 when she was 6, her teenage years, why she founded Sunflowers for Sallie a year ago, the Wind Phone; every quote in this story. Read Nov. 14, 2026.
- PAACA, "Sunflowers for Sallie" pageNames Sallie LeBlanc; tickets and donations; partnership contact form. Read Nov. 14, 2026.
- Sunflowers for Sallie, press release "Sunflowers for Sallie to Host Second Annual Friendsgiving Fundraiser, Expanding Efforts to Support Grieving Children and Families" (November 2026), flyer and one-page summaryEmailed to South Coast 360 by Hannah Walsh on Nov. 5, 2026, not posted online; the link is the event page the release names. The three planned projects; the 5 p.m. start; food, cash bar, live music and raffles; the $20 entry donation; the Wind Phone not yet built; funds tracked with Dartmouth Rotary; the Greater New Bedford Suicide Prevention Coalition as a collaborator; the partnership address. Read in full Nov. 14, 2026.
- Rotary Club of Dartmouth, home pageLists Hannah Walsh as club secretary. Read Nov. 14, 2026.
- Town of Dartmouth, "Feel Good Fair Invites Community to Day of Wellness and Fun"Posted May 8, 2026. The June 6 fair at UMass Dartmouth with Westport and the Southcoast Public Health Collaborative; Sunflowers for Sallie among the vendors and guest speakers. Read Nov. 14, 2026.
- 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, home pageCall or text 988; free, confidential, available 24/7/365. Read Nov. 14, 2026.