Single Mother of Five is First 'Savannah's Fund' Recipient

In April, as we reported, west coast entertainment journalist Larry Carroll somehow found the strength to turn the tragic death of his young daughter Savannah into the basis for a most unusual charitable campaign. This week in Savannah, Georgia, Carroll and his wife Carrie found and gifted a randomly chosen family with the spirit of their Savannah, and Thanksgiving. From a feature interview report by Yahoo Parenting senior writer Elise Solé: "When Savvy was alive, we made a point to create spontaneous memories with her - a surprise cookie, a trip to the playground - and we’d refer to these experiences as ‘Stolen Moments,’” Carroll tells Yahoo Parenting. “We wanted to find a girl who resembled Savannah and give her a ‘Stolen Moment.’” The Carrolls determined that $10,000 would pay for a “Stolen Moment” of the girl’s choice (“It could be a trip to Paris or an expensive birthday party — whatever she wants,” says Larry) and the remaining amount would be directed toward her college education fund. ...On Sunday, the Carroll's, along with their six-year-old son Jack and six-month-old son Dash, boarded a plane to Savannah, Georgia to find a lucky family. “We chose Savannah because it was not only the name of our daughter, it’s somewhere I had always wanted to take her,” says Larry. On Monday morning, the family woke up and visited parks, restaurants, and museums searching for the right family. “Along the way, we kept seeing signs that said, ‘I love Savannah,” and it felt like Savvy was with us,” says Larry. Late Monday afternoon it began to rain and having still not found a family to approach, the Carroll's decided to visit Jumping Jacks, an indoor recreation center, a 30-minute drive away. “I felt as though something was guiding us in that direction,” he says. It was there that Jack met a four-year-old girl named Isabella who was celebrating her brother’s birthday. “Isabella just walked up to Jack and said, ‘Let’s play,’” says Larry. After two hours passed, the kids were still playing, and the Carroll's decided to chat with Isabella’s mother, Sarah Williams. “We both knew that this was our family because Isabella was such a sweet little girl, just like Savannah,” says Larry. “We told Sarah about Savannah and made our offer.” God bless Savannah, the Carroll's and the covenant of human generosity. Williams, 34, is a single mother of five who works for a non-profit. Carroll told Solé, a former editor with Marie Claire, Women's Health and Redbook who recently relocated from New York to LA, that the family will make this an annual crowd-funded tradition. [Image via: fundly.com]

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Single Mother of Five is First 'Savannah's Fund' Recipient

Richard Horgan

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Richard Horgan