Texas mother, who lost two of her daughters, honored their memory by donating more than 7,000 diapers for families in need.
- Christy Payne, a mother who lost two of her daughters, donated thousands of diapers to struggling young families.
- Together with her 16-year-old daughter Sarah, Ms. Payne honored her late girls by collecting and donating over 7,000 diapers to Youth For Christ’s Parent Life.
- Renee Morales, director of the organization, described the grieving mother’s act as “an incredibly beautiful way to honor someone’s legacy and their memory.”
Christy Payne, a mother from Texas, lost two of her daughters, Ella, 18, and Aranza, 16, in a car accident in 2019. To honor their memory, she decided to help struggling families by providing them with much-needed diapers for their babies.
On March 1, the date of Ella’s birthday, the grieving mother made a generous donation to her daughter’s favorite charity, Youth For Christ’s Parent Life, as reported by Newsner.
Ms. Payne contacted the organization to find out more about what they need and how she could be of help. They told her that they needed diapers even more than usual because of the coronavirus pandemic.
In an interview with Good Morning America, the benevolent mother said:
“I messaged them and said I wanted to do something for Ella and [the director of the Parent Life program] replied immediately, ‘diaper drive,’ because that’s what they needed. I just said, ‘Let me know what sizes you need.'”
With the help of her now 16-year-old daughter Sarah, Ms. Payne gathered mother than 7,000 diapers for young families in need. While the mother-daughter duo donated much of the necessities themselves, they also used the donations that were made by kindhearted people honoring Ella’s memory.
Sarah and her mom also organized a diaper drop-off program, which helped them raise hundreds of dollars to purchase diapers.
Renee Morales, director of the charity that provides support for teen parents and expectant teen parents in Lubbock, Texas, commented:
“Diapers are always a need at Parent Life and definitely more so during the pandemic. Diaper need is a huge problem in the U.S. that many are not aware of. Families oftentimes have to choose between buying food or diapers so they may end up leaving diapers on longer to make them last longer, which poses health risks for the babies. Also, many daycares require parents to leave a certain amount of diapers each day which can also be a big burden on parents who are working minimum wage paying jobs that barely cover their bills.”
Touched by the mother’s selfless act, Morales told KCBD:
“To go through a loss like that as a parent, I cannot imagine what that must feel like or what the family must be going through. But to take their grief into something beautiful and giving back to others and making a difference in others lives is just an incredibly beautiful way to honor someone’s legacy and their memory.”
Following the devastating loss of her daughters, Ms. Payne created the Wavemakers Life community, where she and two of her friends inspire people “to make waves of hope that will change the world.” She also turned Ella’s birthday, March 1, into ‘Ella’s Giving Day’ event, which the mother honors by doing charity work, such as donating diapers to struggling families.
Mom collects over 7,000 diapers in daughter's memory as diaper need increases during pandemic. https://t.co/pEMkDr7BIw pic.twitter.com/S6x4C3EMw2
— Good Morning America (@GMA) March 12, 2021
