COEUR d'ALENE - The yellow and purple balloons lifted high into the air, first a few, then what seemed like thousands.

Attached to the strings were messages to Heaven; notes that parents, grandparents, siblings and friends wrote to their little angels who died from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) or sudden unexpected infant death (SUID).

One of those balloons belonged to TJ and Mary Byrne of Post Falls, who attended the Run for the Angels 5K in Riverstone Park on Sunday in memory of their baby grandson Liam, who passed away last August.

"I think it's been very uplifting and it's been a celebration," TJ said. "I mean, there's some sad things coming up in the program but it's been uplifting to see people and the people that have been dealing with this for 20 or 30 years. That part's been a blessing, to just meet and interact with other people who have been through it."

The Run for the Angels is the largest fundraiser for the nonprofit, volunteer-run Inland Northwest SIDS Foundation and is organized by executive director Liz Montgomery of Rathdrum. The day's events began with several vendors, informational booths and a kids play area, followed by a remembrance ceremony where SIDS families heard their infants' names read aloud and released balloons while Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's heart-rending version of "What a Wonderful World" played. Participants then went for a walk/run along the Centennial Trail.

"It just shocks me every time, when we do something like this, how common it is, and how many babies have died," TJ said. "It's sad, but it shocks me, as well."

Mary had a green heart painted on her cheek, which smudged as she wiped away tears.

"It needs to be talked about, because nobody talks about it," she said. "Even though Liam died in safe sleep, I think the education's super important, especially for grandparents."

More than 500 people and dozens of volunteers participated in the event, which also included a silent auction and crib bumper drive. Britany Fuller, 12, of Post Falls, volunteered for the sticky work of making homemade cotton candy out of floss sugar.

"I feel good helping the community and I feel like I'm making a difference, in a small way, but I'm still helping," she said.

The Run for the Angels included many community members, but people from all over the Northwest were present to honor the memories of their babies. Andrea Berndt of Spokane is a volunteer and SIDS mom whose daughter, Ashley, passed away when she was only 8 weeks old. She would have been 25 this year.

"It's really scary that we're still losing a baby like every three hours in the U.S.," she said, adding that a SIDS tragedy creates a ripple effect that touches not only parents, but siblings, grandparents, coworkers, friends and more. She said the Run for the Angels event helps with the healing process.

"It's kind of a reason, something to do, to honor all the babies," she said. "For our family, on June 1, Ashley's birthday, we still have cake, we release balloons, we donate to a nonprofit in her name ... just because they're not here on Earth with us, doesn't mean they're not still with us. We carry that through to, pretty much everything we do, they affect. The day you find that your baby has passed away, your life changes."

Rob Labair of Florence, Mont., just happened to run into the event last year when he was completing some athletic training on the Centennial Trail. He and his wife, Holly, had lost their 3-day-old infant son, Dawson, in 2003, so discovering this sort of healing and SIDS awareness event, he said, really hit home.

"It was an emotional, emotional day for me," he said. "I was like, 'Wow, what are the chances of running into something like this?' It just hit home ... I told my wife about it and we both broke down. We didn't know that something like this existed. With us losing our son, it was very dear to us."

Info: www.inwsids.org