LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Turning their worst nightmare into something joyful.
After losing their children in a tragic accident just over two months ago, Matt and Lauren Kirchgessner decided to turn their tragedy into something to make other children smile.
Six-year-old Addie and 4-year-old Baylor died in early December when a pickup left the road and hit them while they were playing putt-putt golf with their parents at a family fun park in Panama City Beach, Florida.
Within days, a relative set up a GoFundMe page and the Kirchgessners knew right away what to do with the donations.
Matt and Lauren Kirchgessner
The money now totals more than $200,000. It was an easy decision for their parents to use it for Addie and Baylor’s passions: reading and first responders.
"The kids loved to read," Matt Kirchgessner said. "Especially Addie. She was really getting into reading. She read to us every night."
Addie Kirchgessner
So the family created the Addie and Baylor Kirchgessner Foundation in an effort to help improve the lives of other children and "the heroes that inspire them," according to the foundation's website.
"I know the importance of reading and our kids loved to read," Lauren Kirchgessner said. "Just to be able to put that joy into other kids' hands and giving them a new book, just makes us smile."
Last week, the foundation started a book drive to collect books for schools in Louisville, and for a preschool in Panama City Beach, a community the Kirchgessners say they will always love. The response is already filling up their living room.
"We checked that this morning. It’s at 845 books, in just a few days,” Matt Kirchgessner said. "That means a lot to Lauren, who has taught reading for 17 years. Our kids loved to read and just to be able to put that joy into other kids' hands and giving them a new book, just makes us smile.”
The Kirchgessners have family ties to some local Catholic schools, where some of the first books will go. Baylor loved firemen and police officers, so some of the money raised will go to first responders.
“It just gives us that purpose and it’s their legacy going forward. They were such big personalities. Such great kids. They loved to help people," Matt Kirchgessner said.
Baylor Kirchgessner
While they still have moments when they struggle, the Kirchgessners are also relying on their foundation of faith, finding solace that their kids are with Lauren's grandmother, who passed away 10 years ago.
“I’d be lying if I said we’re good. You know, we take things day by day. The kids were our world,” Matt said. “They’ll never be apart. They’ll always have each other and always be together. And that ... you know, we don't take comfort in much, but I guess that's one thing that we do. That they'll never know what it's like to be apart."
If you’d like to donate to help buy books for the foundation's book drive, click here.
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