About Calvin Natt

Growing up with an athletic ability Calvin Natt found himself nurturing his natural basketball ability and found himself, along with his brothers, receiving college scholarships. After college, Calvin began his NBA career and found himself at home playing for the Denver Nuggets and becoming an NBA All Star. Throughout his time in the NBA, he visited hospitals and was inspired by the strength of families who were enduring the emotional roller coaster of having a terminally ill child. The bond and inspiration Natt experienced has led him down a new, fulfilling path in his retirement.

After retiring from the NBA in 1991, Natt found himself following his original calling and opened a funeral home in Colorado. He recalls growing up with a minister for a father. Natt often attended funeral services his father was ministering and grew to not fear death. While running the funeral home, Natt remained dedicated to visiting terminally ill children in the local hospitals and assisting the parents in the dedication to keeping their children alive. Due to the bonds that formed, Natt often donated funeral services at his funeral home to these parents who lost their child to a terminal illness.

During a 2005 radio interview, Natt realized he was capable of helping grieving families through a hard time in their lives. Thus the All For One-One For All Foundation began its mission to help parents cope with the death of a child. Recently, Natt was asked what he remembers most about the hospital visits. He responded, “I could not believe the courage parents displayed when dealing with a child with a terminal illness. If you really think about it how would you react if you were told you only had a year to live. Now image having to explain this to your child that they are sick and only have a year to live.” Natt also recalls how there were three to four terminally ill children per room. Parents had to schedule a time to take a shower. If that wasn’t hard enough to accept, many parents incurred such a financial burden that they began selling things, such as wedding rings, to keep up with the medical bill payments. Hearing these stories and witnessing the hardships is when Natt learned the realities: if parents were experiencing difficulties with paying medical bills what would happen when and if the child died? Would the parents have the money to bury their children properly?

All For One-One For All was founded to relieve the financial funeral burdens for parents who can not afford a proper burial for their child. All For One-One For All also provides family counseling for the surviving family members. Research indicates two out of five families end in divorce after losing a child. The divorce rate increases for younger couples due to the overwhelming grief along with the financial burden. Although the foundation helps ease the financial burden, Natt will share “nobody knows how hard it is to lose a child than a parent who has lost one.”