Delivered Christmas items to Cincinnati Children's on Sunday
(CINCINNATI) – A holiday tradition in honor of Lawrenceburg football player Brady Gabbard continued on Sunday.
Gabbard passed away after a brief battle with cancer in July of 2021. He was a sophomore at the time and would have graduated this past spring.
His mother, Jennifer, has made it her mission to help other young people who are battling cancer.
Each holiday season, she collects and donates Christmas-related items for patients on the oncology floor of Cincinnati’s Children's.
The family donates items like mini-Christmas trees, Christmas lights, crafts, Santa items, silly glasses, necklaces and more.
On Sunday, the family donated 45 bags of items, which happened to be Brady’s baseball number for the Tigers.
“I have been asked why I do this and the reason being, Christmas was always Brady’s favorite holiday, of course! So because I no longer get to spend it with him, I put these bags together to help brighten the kids on the oncology floor rooms up during the holiday season,” Jennifer said.
She knows it can be a scary time in the halls of the oncology unit and hopes these gifts can help children focus on something other than their diagnosis.
“Hearing stories from the staff of how excited the kids get while receiving their bags definitely means a lot. While all the beds are not all full to give the bags to, they sadly will be in the coming days,” she added.
This is the third year the Gabbard family has made the donation in Brady’s honor. Jennifer was joined by his sister, Harper, which she says made it all the more special on Sunday.
Here are some more photos from Sunday:
