Emily Cook is a 4th-grade teacher in St. Louis, Missouri. In 2012, she gave birth to a baby, Parker, with severe developmental disabilities; Parker lived only 48 days. Despite the devastating loss, Cook thought of the people who helped her during Parker's brief life and made the decision to help others herself.

She started "Parker's Army" to help newborns and their families, but she's expanded it to assist people in need all over the St. Louis area. Parker's Army has organized blood drives, packed thousands of meals for cancer and HIV/AIDS patients, and made legwarmers, bibs, blankets, and hats for newborns.

Parker needed blood transfusions, so his Army works with the Red Cross to solicit blood donations. Because of all the medical equipment attached to his body, Parker wore nothing more than a diaper, and that's why Cook's group makes all kinds of warm coverings to give to the families of newborns.

Cook relives her own painful experience every time she explains to recruits the history of Parker's Army, every time she organizes people for a new activity, every time she makes public requests for supplies.

Emily Cook is grieving, but she hasn't let that stop her from working to see that there's less grieving for others.