GRAND RAPIDS, Mich — A Grand Rapids woman and her family have made it a mission to "Be the Light" when families in the area are dealing with tragedies.
Hannah Houghton says she and her husband have always helped people they knew or family members during a time of need and now they are helping people around the community.
"Once we hear from a family whose had a massive loss, we reach out to those families and we put together kind of like a care package," she said.
Houghton tells 13 ON YOUR SIDE they primarily cater to children since kids are so impressionable at such a young age.
"So when they go through a grief and a loss, we have gifts for them," Houghton said. "We have these books on grief and loss, they are picture books, they are little study books, something that is for them to understand and how to be a guide to help them through it."
Houghton said she was inspired to do this after her sister-in-law, was killed in a murder-suicide in Big Rapids last month and her nieces and nephew were in the home at the time.
"We were all struck," she said. "It was sudden, it was something none of us were expecting and the fact that these kids, you know, 13 and under had to see and had to bear this, it's a lot."
She started an Amazon wishlist when that happened and says the community came together to bless the woman's children with stuff they will need.
Recently, a family in Cedar Springs lost their 6-year-old daughter who was about to turn seven this week, Houghton said.
She reached out to the mother and asked if she could be beside her and put something together for the family.
"Just to hear, you know, just to see how she felt seen and she felt like somebody was coming beside her in this grief, that is exactly what this is all about," Houghton said.
Houghton has started what she calls a "Be The Light" wishlist on Amazon for people in the community to purchase items to send to families in need.
"It's one thing to have family combat when you see a whole community come together besides you, that is that that brings so much peace and comfort and hope."
The mission of "Be the Light" is:
"We bring light and love to grieving kids who have suffered loss of someone close to them, sibling or parent. Wether it be to murder, suicide, drug overdose, natural causes, an accident… we want to create a safe place for them to process and grieve comfortably at home or wherever they go. It may seem like only toys and a blanket, but for them, it’s so much more than that. It’s a peace in the chaos their trying to navigate through. So please be apart of this mission. We want to help as many families as we can."