A Sarnia mom is collecting Halloween costumes for next fall hoping a new redistribution event she's planning for charity becomes a lasting tribute to her daughter.
Kristin Luckins said her daughter, Ella [Crossett], died suddenly over the summer at the age of two.
Luckins said Ella's heart was given to a boy under 5-years-old and her liver, pancreas, stomach and bowel were donated to Owen Wallis, 6, of Sarnia.
Crowdfunding launched afterward helped raise nearly $14,000 to purchase a headstone for Ella.
Luckins said she was overcome by the community's generosity.
"Our daughter passed away in July, due to a tragic accident, and I wanted to do something to honour her, every single year," said Luckins. "I really wanted to do something that she would love, and I thought, why not help other people out during Halloween."
Luckins operates a service in the city called Sarnia Scare Grams, where you can hire creepy characters to show up at someone's home or work to scare them.
So, it came as no surprise that Ella's favourite celebration was Halloween given that her birthday was also in October.
Luckins hopes the new event will help take away the stress of having to buy a costume.
"It's hard when you're getting costumes... some of the prices you're like, 'I'm only wearing this for one night,' some families might have a tough time with that," said Luckins. "When they're done with [the costume], if it's in pretty good shape, they can re-donate it and we can do it for the next year."
A date and venue have yet to be set for the event in 2023, but Luckins thinks it would be nice to hold it near Ella's birthday on October 21.
"They can get costumes or makeup that hasn't been used. Stuff like that, that can really help a family out, because there's decorations, there's candies, there's costumes. So, I just wanted to have a fun day and take the ease and stress off some parents that might worry about, 'what am I going to get my kid for Halloween."
Luckins said all of the items will be offered for donations to the Sarnia Organ Donor Awareness [SODA] Group.
"It's just to bring awareness to becoming an organ donor because you can save lives, and if they can make a donation to SODA, that's my goal."
Anyone interested in donating new or gently used children costumes, adult costumes, decorations, or unused make-up, is asked to contact Luckins through the Sarnia Scare Grams Facebook page or by emailing sarniascaregrams@gmail.com