Katie’s Foundation to Hold Fifth Annual Butterfly Release

Written by Mischa Arnosky

Eight years ago, three-year-old Katie Elise Lambert was killed when a large, unsecured piece of furniture fell on her. Since Katie’s death, her family has been releasing butterflies on her birthday … but her family didn’t stop there.

Her father, Bob Lambert, along with her mother Judy, following their daughter’s death, researched tip-over fatalities in the country. The pair then founded Katie’s Foundation for Child Safety, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting children by “increasing the awareness to parents of the hidden dangers that present themselves in everyone's home.” 

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, there were 293 reported tip-over related fatalities in the country between 2000 and 2010; 245 of the deaths involved children under the age of eight. Sixty percent of the fatalities involved a television falling and 31 percent involved furniture; 74 percent of the deaths happened in a residential setting.

And, according to the CPSC, between 2008 and 2010 there was an estimated annual average of 43,400 people who were treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments for injuries related to the instability of televisions, furniture and appliances. 

In addition to creating the foundation, Bob Lambert, a real estate agent from the Jenkintown section of Abington, sits in on meetings for the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), an organization dedicated to the development and delivery of international voluntary consensus standards.

“Basically, I sit in on meetings where all the furniture manufacturers gather to prevent these accidents from happening,” Lambert said in an interview last year. “The decisions that come out of these meetings are voluntary but they’re usually adopted as the industry standard, which makes a difference — the companies take the advice learned at the meetings.”

The butterfly event

Katie Lambert’s birthday is July 30 and there will be an event in her honor Saturday, July 27 from 11 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. at Abington Senior High School. A butterfly release will follow at 1:30 p.m. to remember loved ones who have died.

“The butterfly release is to help deal with bereavement,” Lambert said. “Releasing of butterflies, especially the monarch, is a symbol, and it goes back to Native American cultures. What we’ve done is offer this one day event oriented toward children to enjoy.”

The butterfly release is open to everyone, regardless of how a loved one died.

Butterflies cost $20 and may be ordered at www.katieeliselambert.org.