Racist Texts By Mom Get Boy's Winning Hospital Gown Design Nixed

HOMER GLEN, IL — Racist comments from the mother of a Homer Glen boy who won a hospital gown-designing contest mean the Starlight Children's Foundation will not be producing her son's design, according to the nonprofit.

The foundation held the Design-A-Gown- contest in May, and the winning design was supposed to be made into a gown and distributed to children's hospitals across the country.

After screenshots circulated online of text messages that appeared to show Laurie Cepkauskas, the winner's mom, and family members using racial slurs, the foundation — as well as two of Cepkauskas' employers — publicly announced they are cutting ties with her.

"We are disgusted by her comments and have immediately cut all association with her," foundation representatives said in a statement Monday on social media. "We will not be producing her family's gown design."

In the comments under their post, the company added that the gown design is now linked with Cepkauskas' statements.

"Hospitalized kids should feel comfortable when wearing our hospital gowns and her family's gown no longer represents inclusivity," the foundation said.

Cepkauskas worked as a consultant for Pampered Chef and as a stylist at a local salon. Both companies have now terminated her.

"The viewpoint and language expressed by this individual is not only offensive, but it's in direct violation of our company values and policies," Pampered Chef wrote on Facebook, adding that it had terminated the relationship with Cepkauskas as an independent consultant.

Cepkauskas also runs a Facebook page for her daughter, who has Down syndrome and a congenital heart defect. The page, which had a following of thousands, has since been taken down.

Patch reached out to Cepkauskas, who sent the following statement:

"[On] June 8,2020, a private text conversation I had was exposed. In this conversation, I was venting my frustrations to my sisters and mom. I was not able to get a certain medication for my daughter due to the pharmacy being shut down. I was upset. In that statement I referred to the rioters as the N word. I was immediately called out by my sister and in response, I agreed that I should not have said it and that I was sorry. However, my sister decided to screen shot this conversation and send it to someone. This person then shared it and it grew like wildfire.

I make no excuses for what i said. This statement will most likely not reach anyone as the damage is done. Since the incident, I was immediately let go from both of my professions. Any and all partnerships with organizations I had were dissolved. I respect each and every one of them. They stood up for what they believed in and did not tolerate my words. I send my sincere apologies to my employers and partners. I’m sorry I put you in a position like this and I wish you nothing but success moving forward. I respect the decisions you made.

To the black community. I am sorry. Again, I make no excuses for my vulgar language. The one thing I can promise is that my son or daughter have never HEARD that word. I have truly never spoken it. Sending it in a text to my family was a coward thing for me to do. My children look at everyone with love and adoration and I believe that is apparent in my son.

To my family and friends. I’m sorry for disappointing you. I hope you can find it in your heart to remember who I am and always have been. I’m a human who made an extremely poor judgment call. I’m sure we can all look back on our own stories and think of things we regret. This unfortunately happens to be mine. I don’t want this isolated incident to define who I am.

To my Emily's Heart supporters. I have been very transparent through the years and although many will not believe me, I have been nothing but truthful with you. I have loved sharing our journey. We have been blessed with amazing opportunities to give back to the community. I will never forget what you all have been to me. A community full of love and support. I don’t know if I will be back but I could not go out without at least letting you know how much I adore you.