CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. — When tornadoes stripped Western Kentucky families of everything they owned days before Christmas last year, a toy drive brought in thousands of donations.
After four giveaways in December, there are still many gifts left.
What You Need To Know
- Kentucky First Lady Britainy Beshear kicked off 'Christmas in July' for tornado victims Friday
- The event included Christmas music and decorations, games, face painting and a visit from Santa
- Events are being held next week in Muhlenberg, Hopkins, Graves and Marshall Counties
- Children are invited to take home gifts left over from a toy drive the First Lady organized after the storms
Mariah Hite waited patiently as her 6-year-old son Maddax sifted through the tables of gifts inside the gym at Campbellsville High School Friday morning.
They had a box to fill with gifts for Maddax and his little brother: Spiderman and Batman toys, a Mr. Potato Head and more.
This weekend marked seven months since a tornado destroyed the family’s Campbellsville home and cars and trapped Hite under a deck.
The family had recently finished their Christmas shopping and all but one of the gifts were lost in the storm, Hite said.
It's still hard for her to talk about.
"It came about 3:30 in the morning," Hite recalled. "All of us were inside. There’s four of us and we were sleeping and the next thing we know, we were outside, so we waited for about two hours for people to come help us."
On Friday, the Hite family joined other Taylor County storm victims for the kickoff to “Christmas in July.”
The event included Christmas music and decorations, face painting and games and a visit from Santa.
Children were invited to fill boxes with toys left over from Kentucky First Lady Britainy Beshear’s toy drive, which was organized immediately after the storms.
At least 100,000 toys and tens of thousands of gift cards were donated in December from at least 36 states, she said.
"It turned out that one thing more powerful than a tornado is kindness, because the donations just kept coming," said Beshear.
The Hite family has felt that kindness.
"We want to thank everybody for all the support they’ve given us," said Hite. "People really rallied around us the past few months. We’re doing a lot better now."
They have a new home now, and a new car.
As she and Maddax prepared to head home, Hite smiled as she struggled to fit all the gifts into the trunk.
Another “Christmas in July" event was in held Warren County Friday are more are scheduled for Muhlenberg, Hopkins, Graves and Marshall Counties next week.
The First Lady is no longer accepting toy or gift card donations, but encourages those who want to help to donate to the Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund.