HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- A Central Virginia family is helping their son’s memory live on through an annual toy drive for St. Mary’s in honor of his 14th birthday.
The fifth annual Kellan’s Legacy of Love Toy Drive collects new toys for children receiving care at St. Mary's.
The effort began back in 2021 after Donna Reynolds lost her son Kellan to a rare mitochondrial disease.
She started the nonprofit as a way to help educate people about the disease, while also spreading joy to those children who are receiving care at St. Mary’s, a place her son spent many months.
"She took that grief and focused it into passing on and keeping that love going from Kellan, that light going into the community," explained Reynolds' aunt Ruth Walker Reynolds.
Walker says the feedback they’ve received from nurses at St. Mary’s, as well as the children receiving the toys, has been incredible.
"It's so heartwarming," she shared. "I can hardly talk about it without getting choked up. This is straight up exactly what it sounds like. It's a local effort by a family who experienced something very painful, but is taking the love and the blessings in the midst of that from the life of our loved one and paying it forward."
Last year, the nonprofit collected 2,100 toys, and this year, the goal is 2,500.
Click here for a full list of toys needed and drop-off locations.
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