The Hope Statue

The Angel of Hope, located in Island Park, Fargo, is part of a 150 Christmas Box Angel Statue system scattered across the United States of America. The Angels are gathering places for grieving individuals and families who lost children for any reason. There is a candlelight memorial held every year in remembrance to the children lost every year. There is also an annual walk that also occurs and provides awareness to the deaths of children.

The Angels of Hope are inspired by a movie called The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans. In the story an elderly woman mourns the loss of a young child by frequently returning to the child’s grave, which is marked by an angel statue. The angel promotes the connection between a mother and a child and the true meaning of life. In 1996, grieving parents of Salt Lake City, Utah were searching for the statue in the book and while Evans had a statue commissioned for the book, the story brought grieving parents from all over the United States. Many parents sought to bring the statue back home and over 100 statues were commissioned around the United States, including Fargo. It also serves as a graveyard for children that do not have graves and in Fargo the names of Children are engraved in bricks and placed in front of the statue.

Sources:

1. http://angelofhopefargond.com/
2. "Angel of Hope, Island Park Fargo, ND," Etsy, https://www.etsy.com/listing/238166661/angel-of-hope-island-park-fargo-nd.
3. "The Compassionate Friends of Fargo-Moorhead," The Compassionate Friends of Fargo-Moorhead, http://www.tcffargomoorhead.org/announcementwalktoremember.html.
4. "What Is the Angel of Hope?" Angelas House, https://www.angelashouse.org/angel-of-hope/what-is-the-angel-of-hope/.